Akina Nakamori Set for First Kohaku in 12 Years — Insiders Fret Over a ‘Near Miss’ with Ex Masahiko Kondo

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The story

Singer Akina Nakamori, 61, is drawing attention over whether she will appear on this year’s 77th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen for the first time in 12 years. Reports suggest that Masahiko Kondo, 62 — her former boyfriend — is also considered likely to appear, and that people around the two of them are worried about the possibility of them sharing the same stage for the first time since their 1989 breakup. On the 5ch Geisona Sokuho+ (entertainment/sports news) board, opinions split between those taking a cool-headed view (“it’s been decades — they’re way past the age where this should still bother them”) and those arguing “Akina still hasn’t recovered from the damage from back then.” The thread also branched into speculation about how Kohaku might stage a reunion between the two Showa-era superstar exes, and into stories of feuds between other celebrities.

Akina Nakamori Heading to Kohaku for First Time in 12 Years — The ‘Near-Miss Problem’ with Masahiko Kondo Has People Worried

Attention is on whether singer Akina Nakamori (61) will appear on this New Year’s Eve’s “77th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen” (starting 7:20 p.m.).

That’s because singer Masahiko Kondo (62), her former boyfriend, is also considered a strong bet to appear. Ever since Nakamori declared her return to performing in 2022, there’s been talk of a triumphant Kohaku “comeback” — but…

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:21
Wait, Kondo's actually going on?
Whose pet favorite is he, getting pushed through like this?
7AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:22
Re: #2
Apparently his old hit "Ginginra ni Sarigenaku" is popular in Korea right now
So I guess there's at least some reason he's topical
55AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:57
Re: #7
Maybe the fans who secretly enjoyed Japanese pop culture back when young Koreans had to hide it from the authorities are the ones openly cheering him on now
77AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:14
Re: #7
Wonder if he'll close the show again like he did 11 years ago
Though now that he's gone independent, he probably doesn't have that kind of pull anymore
I remember that performance leaving a pretty weird atmosphere
8AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:23
Kondo's been on variety shows a lot lately — is something going on?
9AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:24
This'll probably generate as much buzz as when Hiromi Go and Seiko Matsuda both appeared
39AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:50
Re: #9
Yeah, but Akina Nakamori doesn't seem anywhere near as mentally tough as Seiko Matsuda
10AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:24
They're both old enough to have grandkids by now, so it's more like "seriously, why does this even matter anymore"
23AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:36
Re: #10
Kohaku can't generate buzz without digging up has-beens these days
Back in our day, a 70% rating was nothing special
11AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:24
Re: #1
Oh, the "Sweet Memories" singer
That's a classic song
12AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:28
How many decades do people think have passed?
Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if they walked out holding hands 😙
85AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:19
Re: #12
Nah, that's not happening. It's not just about feelings, you know.
18AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:33
I stopped watching "Songs" entirely once Yo Oizumi started hosting it
53AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:56
Re: #18
Exactly
Same with dramas — if those two are in it, I lose all interest in watching
19AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:33
A thread where the old geezers of the entertainment/sports board happily reminisce
20AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:34
After that New Year's Eve press conference, Akina and Match actually appeared together on TV twice.
27AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:39
Haven't they at least settled into being friends by now?
28AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:39
They're probably planning some kind of staged reconciliation moment between the two on Kohaku
43AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:51
Re: #28
I just hope that doesn't make her withdraw from public life again
36AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:48
Surely neither of them cares anymore at this point
People around them are overthinking it
41AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:51
Re: #36
Nah. The story about the money she lent him keeps popping up in Bunshun regularly, so she's still holding a grudge over it.
40AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:50
Neither of them needs to still be out there, honestly — their popularity peaked decades ago
48AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:54
Re: #40
It's only old people watching TV these days
57AnonymousOct 21, 2026 09:58
It's been over 30 years now — surely they're both mature adults about it
68AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:09
Re: #57
I wonder about that
Match is said to be the reason Akina Nakamori became a recluse in the first place
71AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:12
It might actually be that the two of them personally feel nothing about it
Apparently with Tunnels and Downtown too, it was really just the people around them who got overly cautious
and kept building walls to keep them from meeting
Same with Kuwata and Nagabuchi maybe?
76AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:13
Re: #71
Nagabuchi genuinely dislikes Kuwata though, doesn't he 😙
89AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:21
Re: #71
It'd be nice if they were as mentally tough as Tunnels and Downtown
but it took forever just to drag Akina Nakamori back out into the public eye
93AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:24
Re: #71
Kuwata and Nagabuchi are genuinely at odds
Kuwata even called him out in his own song lyrics:
"You said you wouldn't be on TV, yet here you are all fired up playing the lead in a drama…"
74AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:13
There's zero demand for Kondo lol
Just put Akina on
81AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:17
Re: #74
Machahiko's still better off — at least he can still actually sing
91AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:23
Match keeps getting dragged for something that happened 35 years ago, so maybe it'd actually help if they appeared together and showed there's no bad blood left
Back then it was Akina who got the brunt of the criticism — so why has she alone been deified now and treated like some kind of angel???
96AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:27
Re: #91
> Back then it was Akina who got the brunt of the criticism

That was probably just because Granny Merry's influence was stronger
94AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:25
How many years has time been frozen for you guys lmaooooo
97AnonymousOct 21, 2026 10:27
Re: #94
Probably because the young singers can't pull ratings, so they drag the old-timers back out instead?

Background and Key Points of the Discussion

Akina Nakamori and Masahiko Kondo were reported to be dating in the late 1980s, and when they broke up in 1989, there was heavy media coverage of an incident in which Nakamori reportedly attempted suicide. Since then, Nakamori has repeatedly gone on extended hiatus and returned to work, and in recent years she has finally been working her way back into the public eye. The thread split between those who view this as “ancient history from over 35 years ago that both of them should be able to handle like adults” and those who believe “Nakamori still hasn’t fully shaken off the damage from back then.” Some posts speculated about a staged “reunion” moment on Kohaku, but it’s worth noting this is purely message-board speculation, not something confirmed by any news report. It’s also worth keeping in mind the asymmetry in how opinion has shifted over time: back then, Nakamori bore the brunt of the criticism, but in recent years the narrative has flipped, with criticism of Kondo intensifying — part of why this story keeps getting rehashed across generations.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisona Sokuho+) thread “[Entertainment] Akina Nakamori Heading to Kohaku for First Time in 12 Years — The ‘Near-Miss Problem’ with Masahiko Kondo Has People Worried.”

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