63rd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen

The 63rd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (第63回NHK紅白歌合戦), referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", aired December 31, 2012 from NHK Hall in Japan beginning from 7:15 p.m. JST.

Broadcast
On December 18, 2012, NHK announced it will broadcast Kōhaku live using ultra-high-definition television technology from two locations: Tokyo Tower and at NHK's Yokohama station. NHK first used UHDTV for a Kōhaku during its 57th event in 2006.

Performance Order
Debuting or returning artists are in bold.

Main host and team leaders

 * Red Team Captain: Maki Horikita
 * White Team Captain: Arashi)
 * Mediator: Yumiko Udō

Live Comments

 * Announcer NHK Radio 1: Minori Aoi, Naoko Hashimoto
 * Kōhaku Ura Talk: Terry Ito, Kouji Komatsu
 * Overseas Relay: Yuka Kubota (Portland, Oregon)

Judges

 * Haruka Ayase (actress), played Niijima Yae in Taiga Yae no Sakura
 * Naoki Ogi (Hosei University professor)
 * Homare Sawa (football player), won FIFA World Player of the Year
 * Nakamura Kankurō VI (Kabuki actor), received the 6th generation Nakamura Kankurō name
 * Kirin Kiki (actress), won the Special Grand Prix of the jury at Montreal World Film Festival
 * Katsura Bunshi VI (Rakugoka), received the 6th generation Katsura Bunshi name
 * Saori Yoshida (freestyle wrestler), gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, was awarded the People's Honour Award
 * Ryosuke Irie (swimmer), silver and bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics
 * Yoko Kanno (composer), composed the Tōhoku Earthquake Recovery Support Song, "Hana wa Saku"
 * Harumafuji Kōhei (sumo wrestler), won the Honbasho and was promoted to Yokozuna

Special Guests

 * Nobuyuki Tsujii
 * Pink Martini
 * Kyoji Yamamoto
 * Masaaki Hirao

Korean performances non-existent
The 63rd event is faced with controversy over the non-existence of acts from South Korea In one source, it is suspected that government-funded NHK avoided inviting Korean acts because of the territorial disputes over Liancourt Rocks between the South Korean and Japanese governments. Sports Chosun reported on a statement made by an NHK representative. "The fact that President Lee Myung Bak has demanded an apology is a great factor. After this incident occurred, there have been more and more hallyu stars who have stated that 'Dokdo is ours.' Considering this, viewers might have ill feelings about the K-pop stars appearing," said the NHK representative.