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The story
Nikkan Gendai reports that Goro Noguchi (70) is likely to appear on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen on New Year’s Eve 2026, marking his 12th appearance and first in 43 years. He’s reportedly in talks to collaborate with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, as well as to perform alongside his daughter, pianist Ayane (24). On 5ch, discussion ranged widely — from mixed opinions on host Hiroyuki Ariyoshi, to calls for veteran acts like Kazumasa Oda, Kazuo Zaitsu, and Yosui Inoue to be invited, to debate over how many slots young idol groups like EBiDAN should get, to complaints about how little Kohaku pays performers.
Some outlets report that Goro Noguchi (70) is likely to appear at the 77th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen on New Year’s Eve 2026, his 12th appearance and first in 43 years. He’s said to be in talks to collaborate with the NHK Symphony Orchestra (N響), which marks its 100th anniversary this year, as well as to perform together with his daughter, pianist Ayane (24).
“This year marks the broadcast’s 101st year, so a headline segment is in the works, and candidate performers’ names are already being floated,”
says an entertainment desk editor at a sports newspaper.
Source: nikkan-gendai.com / Original article here
What people said
Throw big money at Korean artists and bring in a ton of them.
Spend a fortune on Johnny's and Yoshimoto talent too.
This is the unanimous will of the viewers.
True that.
If Ariyoshi weren't there, I'd actually watch.
Oizumi Yo: "Guess I'll do it then…"
Arrogant Ariyoshi could never pull off a warm, sincere hosting job.
This has to be the song (quoting a line from one of his hits)
Nothing short of an Off Course reunion would do it for me (Off Course = Kazumasa Oda's old band)
paired up as a BPM duo (Kreva = well-known Japanese rapper)
Honestly it's gotten really boring, but the competition is lame too, so out of sheer habit we end up leaving Kohaku on. Someone should just air something like 'Yuku Toshi Kuru Toshi' for four hours instead (NHK's quiet New Year's Eve temple-bell program) — I wish some channel would do that.
That's literally the only thing that's popular right now.
Other than that, there was that fighter with the K-pop-style entrance dance.
Kazumasa Oda can still sell out arena tours so he's clearly still popular, but personally I have zero interest.
If anything, get Tatsuro Yamashita on instead.
EBiDAN had the top sales this year and their streaming numbers are insane too, so I bet they put both groups on.
Looks like the Uchimura/Ariyoshi/Oizumi hosting rotation is going to keep going for a while lol
Not everyone watching is a hardcore fan.
He looks like a full-on grandpa now.
But his voice still held up.
Concert tour starting tomorrow
Dinner shows
Year-end Christmas tour
And a TV drama on top of that
If he sang 'Seishun no Kage' ('Shadow of Youth') I'm confident I'd bawl my eyes out.
You mean 'Yuhi wo Oikakete' ('Chasing the Sunset'), right?
Just pay for a ticket and go see him live.
He's touring right now.
Bet you'd never actually pay money to see him though.
Just bring out Oda, Zaitsu, and Yumi Matsutoya together and have them sing 'Ima Dakara' — problem solved.
Give him about three songs' worth of time and ratings would blow past 70%.
Forget three songs — he used to sing something like a dozen-plus almost every single year-end show.
Those are the ones who just debuted recently, right?
If they're just dancing that's fine, but if they start taking vocal parts and changing the line distribution it'll feel off, so yeah, not needed.
He's making money even off people who just sing his songs at karaoke.
you'd better book them now, because making a fuss after they're gone will be too late.
Takuro Yoshida once brought out a lavish backing band and sang 'Soto wa Shiroi Yuki no Yoru' ('Outside It's a Night of White Snow').
So for what one EBiDAN unit gets paid, they're doing a collab stage with every other singer?
The Kohaku fee is like 10,000 yen per person, you know?
Celebrities do it anyway because it's Kohaku, even at that bargain-bin rate.
Who would YOU pick as the headliner then?
Background and Talking Points
Every year, Kohaku Uta Gassen sparks debate over how many veteran, big-name singers get invited. Goro Noguchi was a major idol singer through the 1970s and ’80s and has continued acting and making music in recent years, but he’s been absent from Kohaku for a long time. Note that this report comes solely from Nikkan Gendai and is not an official NHK announcement. EBiDAN, mentioned repeatedly in the thread, is the umbrella name for a group of Stardust Promotion’s male idol units; it’s been gaining ground in streaming and sales in recent years, though some posters question how many of its newer members should get stage time. Debate over the hosts is an annual Kohaku tradition, and opinions on Hiroyuki Ariyoshi as host are especially divided. Worth noting: names like Kazumasa Oda, Kazuo Zaitsu, and Yosui Inoue came up purely as wishlist picks from thread participants, not as any indication of the artists’ own willingness to appear.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Bombshell: Kazumasa Oda floated for New Year’s Eve Kohaku! NHK desperately courting the 78-year-old ‘anti-Kohaku’ holdout… EBiDAN’s 68-plus members also in the mix.”
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