Gaki no tsukai dvd
The two shows I like to watch on New Year’s is Ultraman Dash (ウルトラマンダッシュ), shown on January 1st starting late in the afternoon, and Zettai ni Waratte wa Ikenai (絶対に笑ってはいけない – Absolutely no laughing), which is a direct competitor to Kouhaku as it is also broadcast on the 31st of December on more or less the same time slot. I like Japanese music, but the bands and singers I’m into aren’t exactly mainstream, and NHK only selects mainstream Japanese musical acts (though they have invited a few foreign singers before). To be honest, I’m not so interested in Kouhaku. But they’re all already successful artists, and no single artist is declared “the best”, so I don’t really get the point of selecting a winner.
GAKI NO TSUKAI DVD PLUS
At the end of the 4 plus hour music marathon, the audience and judges vote, and the winning team is declared. Singers are grouped into two teams, one red (Kou) and the other white (Haku). The longest of this tradition is NHK’s Kouhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦), which is basically a singing contest, but the singers/groups are all famous artists. One “modern” Japanese tradition is New Year TV programming. There aren’t that many visitors here on a regular day. Speaking of hatsumode, here’s how the shrine next door looks like right now: There’s a lot of info out there about new year traditions in Japan, such as the food (osechi, toshikoshi soba, ozoni), otoshidama (giving kids money in an envelope) and hatsumode (visiting a shrine at the beginning of the year)… DVD cover of Zettai Waratte wa Ikenai Episode 18 (stolen from Amazon)