The was the Reiwa 5 edition of NHK's New Year's Eve TV special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2023. The show was broadcast live from NHK Hall. The Red Team won the contest.

Events leading up to broadcast On September 27, NHK released the broadcast times. The show would start at 19:20, and wrap up at 23:45 (JST), with a 5-minute break for the latest news. On October 6, NHK announced the hosts, who would be Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Kanna Hashimoto, Minami Hamabe, and Kozo Takase. Additionally, this year's theme was stated to be "Borderless: New Year's Eve That Transcends and Connects", that would mark the beginning of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the first television broadcast in Japan.

For the first time since 1980, no artists belonging to Smile Up, Inc. (formerly Johnny & Associates) were scheduled to appear on this edition of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen. This was known after the announcement of the list of participants on November 13. The absence of talent from the agency is a consequence of the juvenile sex abuse scandals from Johnny Kitagawa.

On December 4, 2023 Official Hige Dandism announced in advance that their participation song would be "Chessboard". Furthermore, the group announced that they were looking for middle schoolers for performing support. Application videos can be sent between December 4–18 on the contests official homepage.

On December 20, 2023, the guest judges and the voting method were announced. Two days later, the song titles were published. On December 26, the performance order was revealed. Atarashii Gakko would be the show opener, while Misia would do another Ootori.

Due to copyright issues, both Milet and Man with a Mission's performances could not be shown on the NHK World Premium global simulcast, as they contained scenes from the Demon Slayer anime, whose global rights belong to Muse Communication (outside Japan) and Crunchyroll (outside Asia). Instead of performances, the artist's photo was shown. 10-Feet's performance was also not shown on the same broadcast, as it used scenes from the film "The First Slam Dunk".

Artist lineup

+ Key Debuting artists Returning artists Special performances

+ List of 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen performances Red Team White Team Order Artist Appearance Song Order Artist Appearance Song First half Fox Capture Plan – "Grand Opening" 1 Atarashii Gakko! 1 "Otona Blue" 2 JO1 2 "Newsmile" colspan="4" 3 Masayuki Suzuki 6 "Megumi no Hito" 5 Perfume 16 "Fake It" 4 Stray Kids 1 "Case 143" (Japanese version) 7 Yoshimi Tendo 28 "Dōtonbori Ninjō" 6 Strawberry Prince 1 "Suki Suki Seijin" 9 Ryokuoushoku Shakai 2 "Character" 8 Tatsuya Kitani 1 "Where Our Blue Is" 10 Sakurazaka46 3 "Start Over!" 11 Jyunretsu 6 "Datte Meguri Aetanda" (NHK+ version) 12 Ano 1 "Chu, Tayōsei" 13 Be:First 2 "Boom Boom Back" 14 Juju 2 "Toki no Nagare ni Mi o Makase" rowspan="2" colspan="4" 15 NiziU 4 "Make You Happy" 16 Le Sserafim 2 "Unforgiven" (Japanese version) 17 Keisuke Yamauchi 9 "Koi Suru Machikado" 18 Nogizaka46 9 "Ohitorisama Tengoku" 19 Hiromi Go 36 "2 Oku 4 Sen Man no Hitomi" (Breaking SP) 20 Milet 4 "Koi Kogare" (with Man with a Mission) 21 Man with a Mission 1 "Kizuna no Kiseki" (with Milet) 23 Kaori Mizumori 21 "Hyūga Misaki" (Kōhaku Domino Challenge SP) 22 Seventeen 1 "Fallin' Flower" Hama Iku (Ryūichi Hamaie and Erika Ikuta) (1) – "Beat De Tohi" colspan="4" 24 Yo Oizumi 1 "Ano Sora ni Tatsu Tō no Yō ni" Second half 26 Fuyumi Sakamoto 35 "Yozakura Oshichi" 25 Mrs. Green Apple 1 "Dancehall" 27 MiSaMo 1 "Do Not Touch" 28 10-Feet 1 "Dai Zero Kan" NewJeans (1) – "OMG", "ETA", and "Ditto" medley Disney 100 Years Special Medley Kanna Hashimoto and Minami Hamabe – "Someday My Prince Will Come" Yo Oizumi, Motoki Ohmori (Mrs. Green Apple), and Le Sserafim – "Under the Sea" Koichi Yamadera, Sakurazaka46, and Stray Kids – "Friend Like Me" Erika Ikuta – "This Wish" Kōhaku Yushi no Minna-san (Ano, Sayuri Ishikawa, Jyunretsu, Masayuki Suzuki, Mrs. Green Apple) – "It's a Small World" 30 Ringo Sheena 8 "Marunouchi Sadistic (Sasuga ni Shogyōmujō-hen)" 29 Official Hige Dandism 4 "Chessboard" colspan="4" 31 Yuzu 14 "Beautiful" Queen + Adam Lambert (1) – "Don't Stop Me Now" colspan="4" 32 Hiroshi Miyama 9 "Donka Zaka" (7th Road to the Kendama World Record) 34 Superfly 7 "Tamashii Revolution" 33 Gen Hoshino 9 "Life" 35 Ran Itō 1 "Candies 50th Anniversary Kōhaku SP Medley" colspan="4" Yoshiki (14) – "Endless Rain ~ Rusty Nail" TV Broadcasting 70 Years Special Project: Terebi ga Todoketa Meikyoku-tachi Pocket Biscuits and Black Biscuits (2) – "Yellow Yellow Happy" + "Timing" Hiroko Yakushimaru (3) – "Sailor-fuku to Kikanjū" Akira Terao (3) – "Ruby no Yubiwa" 36 Ado 1 "Show" colspan="4" 38 Aimyon 5 "Ai no Hana" 37 Elephant Kashimashi 1 "Ore-tachi no Ashita" 40 Sayuri Ishikawa 45 "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki" 39 Masashi Sada 22 "Cosmos" 42 Yoasobi 3 "Idol" 41 Fumiya Fujii 6 "True Love""Shiroi Kumo no Yō ni" (with Hiroiki Ariyoshi) 44 Misia 8 "Kōhaku Special 2023" 43 Masaharu Fukuyama 16 " 'Hello' ~ 'Sōbō' Kōhaku Special Medley"

Notes

Voting

Voting method As in the previous years, the winning team is determined via a 3-point voting system. This voting system includes judges vote, attendance vote and television voting. The winner of these votings receives one point per voting won.

While the jury members and the attendance at NHK Hall are only able to cast their vote once the television voters are able to vote up to five times depending on for how long they are watching the show.

The vote can be cast via remote control if the receiver is connected to the internet. Due to a rule change revolving around the jury vote where the judges are divided into two groups consisting out of four people each it could be possible that the result may be remis for the first time in the show's history.

Judges On December 20, 2023, the eight members of the guest jury were announced. The jury consists out of following people: Haruka Kitaguchi — Sports athlete (Javelin throw) Shingo Kunieda — former Wheelchair tennis player Masato Sakai — Actor Machi Tawara — Lyricist and poet Shinobu Terajima — Actress Nobuhiro Terada — former Ballet dancer, art director of National Ballet of Ukraine Bakarhythm — Comedian Yuriko Yoshitaka — Actress

Results Voting method Results Points Team Red Team White Guest judge voting 7 1 1 Audience voting 1.453 883 1 Viewership voting 3,943,182 2,457,277 1 Winner 3-0

Ratings According to Kanto region viewers, the show had the worst ratings overall with 29% in its front part, and 31.9% in its back part, compared to the 73rd edition, which had 35.3%.

References