第56回NHK紅白歌合戦
[NHK's Annual Red/White Song Competition]
Every year for the past 56 years, Japan has broadcast a national music competition entitled Kouhaku Uta Gessen (紅白歌合戦 / "Red and White Song Battle"). For the first three years the program was transmitted via radio, but in 1954 Japan's first TV broadcast capabilities went online, marking the start of the Nippon Housou Kyoukai (NHK / 日本放送協会), the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation. Thus from the very advent of television broadcast in Japan Kouhaku Uta Gessen has been a favorite televised national event.
The program runs annually on New Year's Eve from 7:20pm to 11:45pm, during which time the nation's top musicians perform in what amount to a "boys against the girls" competition. Appointed judges and segments of the population are invited to vote for either team, and at the program's end, the tally is counted.
Below you will find photos and info on this year's competition. Due to the time zone difference between Chicago and Tokyo (we are 16 hours behind Tokyo), the live broadcast is recorded in Japan and then distributed on DVD through Japanese stores here in the States in time to be watched here on New Years Eve (!!). For those in the USA, if you can imagine "Dick Clark's New Years Eve" multiplied by 100, you'll get a notion of the importance of this annual event.