Kōhaku Uta Gassen is the Japanese New Year’s Eve television music show that began in 1951 and divides performers into red and white teams.
The NHK program, often called Kōhaku, places female performers in the red team and male performers in the white team, although the show’s participation rules and presentation have evolved. Popular singers perform major songs from the year, and judges plus audience voting determine the winning team.
The first broadcast was a radio program in 1951. It moved to television in 1953, helping establish it as one of Japan’s most important annual broadcasts. The show is traditionally aired on December 31 and is watched as part of the evening’s transition into the new year.
Kōhaku is not a competition in which performers represent two fixed musical genres. The team colors are a presentation format, and the lineup can include pop, rock, enka, and other styles. It is also separate from the Japan Record Awards, which recognize recorded music through a different awards structure.