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Every year on the 31st of December, families flock to a special place to entertain themselves. If you are a broadcaster, then the ratings would amuse you. If you are an advertiser, tough luck, as the channel most of the country flocks to this evening happens to be the public broadcaster.
Countries and cultures have their own ways of celebrating their new year: Toronto and Niagara Falls set off fireworks, whilst New Yorkers get to see a large lighted metal ball come down, both symbols of celebration and bringing in the new. But for most Japanese, their ritual, or let's say, their "fireworks" or "metal ball", happens to be the electric tube. Yes folks, most Japanese watch television into the stroke of midnight.
This doesn't mean that the Japanese population are a bunch of couch potatoes, however. If that was the case, then it would be the japanese diet that keeps them fit and trim; and I would be busily out in central Toronto, filming an informercial to get ahold of the big bucks lying in the weight loss industry. However, I wouldn't spend money on plane tickets just to discover that.
Japanese across the country are tuned in, not for the regular type of entertainment. Not for the sports programming, or the comedy; not even for the popular daily "Asadora", which is a Japanese equivalent to a soap. Actually, viewers tune into a big concert, full of visual effects and spectacle. The organisers, performers and audience take this concert very seriously. In fact, this event is a black-tied affair; only the most popular acts are invited to perform their bit.
It's called the Kouhaku Uta Gassen, and it's full of performers who have showed their popularity. To think of a close equivalent, let's say PBS invited Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff and other popular acts to perform on a stage in New York on New Years Eve. Of course, in North America, that would really be a hard sell, as there are diverse ways of celebrating this occasion, as diverse as the makeup of our population. However, as this is Japan, it's probably easier to convince audiences to flock to their TV sets on this mid-winter's night.
But Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, didn't just organise a simple concert, oh no; that would be way too boring. NHK makes it a competition, putting singers into teams, against each other to see who wins the viewers' hearts. Each performer would do their tweedle-tee to show their creativity, and viewers would eventually decide who was the better team of performers. Some friendly competition to satisfy a demanding viewer audience.
If one is ever to create a concert similar to the Kouhaku a little closer to home, the organisers would have to put pop star versus rock star and everything inbetween. Hypothetical examples may possibly include Madonna versus Green Day, or Robbie Williams versus Good Charlotte.
Of course, the Kouhaku isn't all a confrontational event; it's about celebrating the skill and creativity these performers have. The fact that only the most popular and successful fare are invited gives people full assumption that they will only see what they want to see, rather than who the organisers could find, unbeknownst to their audience. The celebration of not just great but the best talent in the country, singing to win the hearts of the population brings about audience satisfaction that made them stars in the first place.
Maybe being a couch potato on New Years Eve is a good idea, at least in the far eastern land of Japan.
This year, luckily, I got to participate in this tradition and see a glimpse of this whole spectacle, an evening full of popular singers of asian and other genres, performing what they're good at before the clock strikes midnight before filmed clips of people across the country played, wishing people a great new years. Moments like this make my heart race every time I head outside Canada.
In Tokyo, I'm Phillip Hong, and that's it for The Travelling Briefcase.
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