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The story
Enka singer Hiroshi Shimizu (36) shared his thoughts on X on the 14th. The lineup for the 77th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, announced the previous day, has no singer generally categorized as an “enka singer” on the White Team. Shimizu acknowledged that “it’s inevitable the show changes with the times,” but pleaded with NHK not to forget the audience looking forward to enka on New Year’s Eve. NHK producer-in-chief Shinsuke Shinohara explained at a press conference that the network doesn’t see it as “zero enka.” On 5ch forums, opinions split over how much demand for enka remains, and whether enka is even old enough a genre to be called a “tradition” in the first place.
November 14, 2026, 1:18 PM
Enka singer Hiroshi Shimizu (36) posted on X on the 14th, sharing his thoughts on the “77th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen,” whose lineup announcement press conference had been held the day before.
This year’s announcement sparked discussion because the White Team lineup includes no performers generally classified as “enka singers.” After the press conference, producer-in-chief Shinsuke Shinohara told reporters, “We don’t see it internally as ‘zero enka’ — for instance, we do have acts like Monaki and Junretsu, who fall under ‘enka and kayōkyoku [traditional Japanese pop].’”
Source: news.livedoor.com / Original article here
What people said
does it have to be New Year's Eve specifically?
It'd be different if every show playing enka vanished from this world entirely.
Maybe there are more than you'd think.
they wouldn't be able to hit the notes lol
These days a pleasant AI-sounding tune tied in with some anime is all it takes to sell.
That's dumb.
An opera singer could belt out enka without even trying.
That's not the point here.
There is demand.
I've been angry since my 20s about the enka slots getting cut.
They're not taking it seriously.
Enka actually has a pretty short history.
Since some of it traces back to folk songs (min'yō), people tend to assume it's ancient, but it's not.
Sounds like it's a genre that got popular after the war.
Nobody wants to hear some song for the first time ever on Kōhaku, like the ones from Mika Kano, Yoko Nagayama, or Fuyumi Sakamoto.
Head on over there.
These days parent-and-child 'fan activities' (oshi-katsu) are trending, so NHK is probably thinking long-term — having groups that teens through 40-somethings actually root for, so parents and kids watch Kōhaku together, makes more sense for the future.
I don't think it's about age — most people who listen to it just like that genre specifically.
It's not really a 'old people listen to enka' thing anymore.
Hiroshi Itsuki sings Western songs too, and Aya Shimazu does anime theme songs.
Shinichi Mori has had songs written for him by Takuro Yoshida and Eiichi Ohtaki, and Ikuzo Yoshi even raps.
It's a feudal, insular little world, but it's remarkably flexible.
>At least that there are a lot of Japanese people looking forward to hearing enka on New Year's Eve
You can listen to all you want on TV Tokyo, so it's fine.
It's still a pretty young, new genre.
I think you're a rare case.
If nobody's listening, then there's no demand — that's just how it is.
Looking for more info on this!!
That's exactly why it's stopped resonating with younger generations at all.
They need to be able to compete with self-written songs, like American country singers do.
Hideo Mizumori (77)
Tetsuya Tsuru (79)
Masato Sugimoto (77)
Koji Tokuhisa (78)
Kohei Miyuki (?)
It feels like it's just been rotating between these same names for decades.
That ended ages ago — don't act like you just noticed, that's way behind the times.
Yeah, at the very latest it ended back in the 20th century.
I feel like there was already a former AKB member who did that, though.
Nakazawa from Morning Musume did sing enka, but it never really caught on.
I guess it'd work if old folks got into idols singing enka, but…
Yoko Nagayama
Sanae Jonouchi
That's about it, really,
for the ones who actually made it work.
Huh, is that right.
I've never seen it among people around me, but I guess there really are people in their 20s who like enka.
Still, if you're going to include enka just for that minority, you'd have to include every genre out there.
If you watch NHK's Nodo Jiman (amateur singing show) every week, you can tell enka is still plenty loved.
Background and Key Points of Debate
Enka is often described as “Japan’s traditional music,” but as several posters in the thread pointed out, the style as we know it today only took shape after World War II, making it a relatively young genre. The shrinking enka presence at NHK’s Kōhaku has been an ongoing trend in recent years, and the core of this story is that, for the first time, the White Team lineup includes no enka singer at all. The thread split mainly on two points. First, whether demand still exists — voices saying “nobody wants to hear it anymore” clashed with counterarguments like “watch Nodo Jiman and you’ll see enka is still loved.” Second, alternatives — many suggested pointing enka fans toward other programs, such as TV Tokyo’s “Toshiwasure Nihon no Uta.” Some posts also flagged a structural problem: the same handful of aging songwriters have dominated the genre for decades, with the resulting lack of fresh hits seen as part of why it’s declining.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisokusoku+) thread “Nodo Jiman champion-turned-enka-singer shares his view on the Kōhaku lineup: ‘It’s inevitable the show changes with the times… but please don’t forget us, NHK’.”
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