On November 14, the contestants for the “76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen” to be broadcast on New Year’s Eve were announced. There will be 37 groups, including 20 red groups and 17 white groups. Ten first-time entrants, including Aina the End, Rira Ikuta, FRUITS ZIPPER, Chamina, HANA, &TEAM, and M!LK, were announced as the artists who made their mark this year, while the name of Gen Hoshino (44), who had been a “regular” entrant, was not included in the list. LK, and others, were announced as this year’s artists, while the absence of “regular” Hoshino Gen (44) was met with widespread shock. Hoshino Gen has been on the Kohaku stage for 10 consecutive years since his first appearance in 2015, until 2024. Although Hoshino has cheered up the people with his friendly charactor and warm singing voice, it will be remembered that there was a “commotion” at the Kohaku in 2024. A women’s magazine editor recalls. Originally, Mr. Hoshino was scheduled to perform his song “Jigoku de naze wa yaku” based on his own experience of battling illness, at the request of the Kohaku team last year. The Kohaku side wanted the song to encourage many people. However, since the song was the theme song of the movie of the same title directed by Sion Sono, a movie director who was reportedly accused of sexual assault in April 2022, many people on social networking sites pointed out that “airing a song that reminds people of Mr. Sono on TV will lead to secondary assault. As a result, Ms. Hoshino was forced to take her own official position. As a result, Mr. Hoshino commented on his official website, “We cannot completely deny the possibility,” and changed the title of the song to “Barabara Barabara. The lyrics were written by Hoshino’s personal assistant. The lyrics were written based on Hoshino’s personal experiences and thoughts. （He also expressed his opinion, “(It is) a song that was born out of Gen Hoshino, born out of Gen Hoshino. Mr. Hoshino did not smile as he went into the main Kohaku performance after changing the song. He had a 15-second long silence before he sang the song, and it also became a topic of conversation that part of the lyrics had been changed from “I am an imposter” to “I am also the real thing. The viewers who saw Gen Hoshino’s appearance at last year’s Kohaku White showed that he was completely pissed off and it was really good to see. I wonder if Gen Hoshino is going to release his Kohaku NG now. Some people think that last year’s controversy may have affected his decision not to participate in this year’s Kohaku, but there were also fans who mentioned the “strange” change that Hoshino had shown earlier.
