The was the 2025 (Reiwa 7) edition of NHK's annual New Year's Eve television special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, which took place at NHK Hall, Tokyo on December 31, 2025, and was broadcast live on NHK General TV, BSP4K, BS8K, and Radio 1.

With the theme "connecting, being connected, New Year's Eve", the event was hosted by comedian Hiroiki Ariyoshi, actresses Haruka Ayase and Mio Imada, and news anchor Naoko Suzuki. The White Team won this contest for the 42nd time across all categories as voted on by guest judges, audiences at NHK Hall, and NHK viewers. The event recorded the average viewership rating of 30.8% for the first half and 35.2% for the second half in the Kantō region.

Overview

On September 17, 2025, NHK announced that the 76th edition of Kōhaku Uta Gassen would be held at NHK Hall, Shibuya, Tokyo, and broadcast through NHK General TV, BSP4K, BS8K, and Radio 1 in Japan on December 31, 2025 (Reiwa 7), starting at 19:20 (JST) and wrapping up at 23:45, with 5-minute break for the breaking news and announcement regarding TV licence fees dividing the first and second half between 20:55 and 21:00. The event is also available for simultaneous and on-demand streaming on NHK One and NHK One Radiru Radiru.

The show's hosts were revealed on October 14, being comedian Hiroiki Ariyoshi, actresses Haruka Ayase and Mio Imada, and NHK news anchor Naoko Suzuki, as well as its theme "connecting, being connected, New Year's Eve", embodying the wish that "wonderful music will continue to connect us for the next 100 years." The event's key visual, designed by Kōta Hikichi, who served as creative director of Expo 2025, depicts a red-and-white circular motif and the hosts "energetically delivering music".

Performances

On November 14, 2025, Kōhaku unveiled the show's original 39 participating artists, containing 20 on the Red Team, 17 on the White Team, and two in the special segment at the press conference at the NHK Broadcasting Center, Shibuya. The appearance of King & Prince made the return of artists under Starto Entertainment (a successor of Johnny & Associates) for the first time since 2022, following the two-year absence due to a consequence of the juvenile sex abuse scandal from Johnny Kitagawa.

The additional performers were announced later: AKB48, Radwimps, SixTones, Back Number, Gen Hoshino, Kōji Tamaki, Yumi Matsutoya, Kenshi Yonezu, Eikichi Yazawa, Koshi Inaba (as a featured artist for Masaharu Fukuyama), and Seiko Matsuda. List of songs they would perform was revealed on December 19, and the performance order on December 26, with Candy Tune opening the show, Mrs. Green Apple serving as original ōtori. Matsuda performed after the regular show as part of the special segment.

On December 18, the short drama Kōhaku Special Edition, based on the asadora Anpan (2025), and a special performance by the series' casts was announced. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of NHK, the opening show, featuring medley of songs that had performed throughout Kōhakus history, was announced on December 24.

+ Key Debuting artists Returning artists Special performances

+ List of performances Order Team Artist Song Appearance First half Opening Mrs. Green Apple "Yume de Aimashō" rowspan="8" King & PrinceHiromi GoHana "Hyokkori Hyōtanjima" Aina the EndMio ImadaAtsuko Maeda "Haru Ichiban" Hiroiki AriyoshiCandy TuneFruits ZipperNobuteru Maeda "Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)" Lilas IkutaPerfume "Haru yo, Koi" Haruka AyaseSayuri IshikawaFuyumi SakamotoKiyoshi HikawaMisia "Hana wa Saku" Illit&TeamNumber_iBe:FirstWakey "Paprika" Kōhaku volunteer performers "Ue o Muite Arukō" 1 Red Candy Tune "Bai Bai Fight!" 1 2 Fruits Zipper "Watashi no Ichiban Kawaii Tokoro" 1 3 White Leon Niihama "Fun! Fun! Fun!" 2 4 Orange Range "Ikenai Taiyō" 3 5 King & Prince "What We Got (Kiseki wa Kimi to)" 6 6 Red Illit "Almond Chocolate" 2 7 Yoshimi Tendo "Anta no Hanamichi" (Myaku-Myaku Dance SP) 30 8 White &Team "Firework" 1 9 Red Lisa "Shine in the Cruel Night" 4 10 White Milk "E Jan" 1 11 Red Nogizaka46 "Same Numbers" 11 12 White Junretsu "Ii Yu da na (Vivinon Rock)" 8 13 Number_i "God_i" 2 14 Red Lilas Ikuta "Koikaze" 1 Special Kiyoshi Hikawa "Ai Sansan" 25 15 Red Aespa "Whiplash" 1 16 Aina the End "On the Way" 1 Special Masaaki Sakai "Saraba Koibito""Bang Bang Bang""Monkey Magic""Punsukapin!" 7 17 White Be:First "Muchū" 4 Special Masaharu Fukuyama "Mokusei" (featuring Koshi Inaba) 18 18 White Hiroshi Miyama "Sake Akari" (9th Road to Kendama World Records) 11 19 Red Humbert Humbert "Smiles and Stumbles" 1 20 Fuyumi Sakamoto "Yozakura Oshichi" 37 21 Kaori Mizumori "Õsaka Koi Shizuku" (Kōhaku Domino Challenge 2025) 23 22 White Vaundy "Tokimeki" 3 Second half Special Mio ImadaYuumi KawaiNanoka Hara "Tokyo Boogie Woogie" rowspan="5" Takumi KitamuraFumiya TakahashiKoichi YamaderaStudents "Zuan-ka no Uta" Motoki Ohmori "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o" Above performersKenjiro TsudaRyūsei NakaoKeiko Toda "Te no Hira o Taiyō ni" Above performersAnpanmanBaikinmanUncle JamDokin-chanShokupanmanCurrypanman "Anpanmans March" 23 White Radwimps "Tamamono""Seikai" 3 24 Red AKB48 "Flying Get""Heavy Rotation""Koi Suru Fortune Cookie""Aitakatta" 13 25 White Tube "Season in the Sun""Koi Shite Mūcho""Ah Natsuyasumi" 3 26 Red Hana "Rose" 1 27 Chanmina "NG""Sad Song" 1 28 Hiromi Iwasaki "Madonna-tachi no Lullaby" 15 Special Gen Hoshino "Create" 11 29 White Sakanaction "Kaijū""Shin Takarajima" 3 Special Eikichi Yazawa "Shinjitsu""Tomaranai Ha-Ha""Travelling Bus" 3 30 White SixTones "Imitation Rain""Barrier""Kokkara" 4 31 Hiromi Go "2 Oku 4 Senman no Hitomi (Exotic Japan)" 38 32 Back Number "Want Want Want""Suiheisei" 2 33 Red Aimyon "Belt of Venus" 7 34 White Toshinobu Kubota "1, 2, Play""Missing""La La La Love Song" 2 35 Red Perfume "Polyrhythm""Meguloop" 17 36 Mariko Takahashi "Momoiro Toiki" 7 37 White Akira Fuse "My Way" 26 38 Red Sayuri Ishikawa "Amagi-goe" 48 Special Yumi Matsutoya "Ten made Todoke""Kageriyuku Heya" 7 39 White Kenshi Yonezu "Iris Out" 3 40 Masaharu Fukuyama "Kusunoki (Blowing in the Wind of 500 Years)" 18 Special Kōji Tamaki "Denen""Fanfare" 4 41 Red Misia "Everything""Ai no Katachi" 10 42 White Mrs. Green Apple "Good Day" 3 Special Seiko Matsuda "Aoi Sangoshō (Blue Lagoon)" 25

Voting

The winner of the 76th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen between White and Red Teams was determined by the 3-Point System, in which each point comes from guest judges, audiences at NHK Hall, and NHK television viewers. Guest judges and audiences in the hall can vote once, while television viewers can vote five times via remote control by pressing the red button for the Red Team and the blue button for White Team. The White Team won the event for the 42nd time across all categories as voted on by guest judges, audiences at NHK Hall, and NHK viewers.

Guest judges Tokito Oda – professional wheelchair tennis player Akari Takaishi – actress Taiga Nakano – actor Masako Nozawa – voice actress Nanako Matsushima – actress Kazuyoshi Miura – professional footballer Kaho Miyake – literary critic

+ Results Method Votes Points Red Team White Team Guest judges 2 5 0–1 Audience judges 878 1520 0–1 Viewers judges 3,361,295 4,397,571 0–1 Winner White 0–3

Viewership + Average TV viewership ratings in the Kantō region Part Average audience share Household Overall(including time-shift) 1 30.8% 33.1% 2 35.2% 37.3%

+ Average TV viewership ratings by performer Performers Averageaudienceshare 1 Seiko Matsuda 39.9% 2 Mrs. Green Apple 39.4% 3 AKB48 37.1% 4 Misia 36.7% 5 Tube 36.4% 6 Hiromi Iwasaki 36.3% 7 Eikichi Yazawa 36.0% Kenshi Yonezu 9 Kōji Tamaki 35.7% Masaharu Fukuyama

Notes

References

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