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NHK Announces 2026 Kōhaku Song Contest Lineup

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) announced the lineup for the 77th Kōhaku Uta Gassen ("Red and White Song Contest"), Japan's most-watched music television program, on Friday. The show will feature 20 primarily female musical acts in the Red Team and 21 primarily male musical acts in the White Team.

The full lineup for the 77th Kōhaku Uta Gassen is:

(Note: The number in parentheses indicates how many times each musical act will have appeared on the program, including this year.)

RED TEAM

WHITE TEAM

NHK also announced vocalist and lyricist of rock duo B'z Kōshi Inaba will appear for a special performance during the live show. He will perform his cover of "Touch," Yoshimi Iwasaki's theme song from the 1985 anime of the same name. The song gained renewed popularity after Inaba performed it to rally Japan during the World Baseball Classic tournament this past spring.

NHK had announced the three hosts for this year's event on October 9: actors Mana Ashida and Masato Sakai, and former Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya. NHK news and variety program announcer Naoko Suzuki will narrate the event.

The 77th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen will run in Japan on December 31 from 7:20 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. on the NHK General TV channel, as well as on BSP4K, BS8K, NHK AM (formerly NHK Radio 1), NHK ONE (formerly NHK Plus), and NHK One Rajiru ★ Rajiru.

Sources: Kōhaku Uta Gassen's website