is a Japanese weekly music show produced by

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

, airing on Tuesday night from April 12, 2016. The show replaces ''NHK Kayou Concert'' and ''Music Japan''.

Description

''Utacon'' presents a range of music artists from

Enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

and

J-Pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

NHK Hall The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the NHK Broadcasting Center, the main headquarters of Japan's Public broadcasting, public broadcaster NHK. The hall is the main venue for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it has also played host to other e ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

every week, to continue in the spirit of ''NHK Kayou Concert'' (which ended on March 15, 2016) as well ''Music Japan'' (which ended on April 4, 2016, at 01:30 JST). It also airs worldwide, through

NHK World Premium NHK World Premium is a TV news and entertainment broadcasting service offered by NHK World-Japan, the international arm of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The service is aimed towards Japanese Diaspora and the overseas market, similar to worldwi ...

at 10:57 UTC, broadcast at the same time as the show's appearance on NHK-G). To target all audiences, including traditional 60's-70's music (which was the viewing target of the now-defunct "Kayou Concert") NHK aims at the so-called "rejuvenation" of the performers, singers and music, together with the "

popular song" and "

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

" styles. The program aims to become the "center of the Japanese music scene". Utacon also incorporates a relay from around Japan, making the music show a unique live experience. As was the case with "NHK Kayou Concert", the program is usually performed in front of a live audience at NHK Hall in

, but on last week each month it is performed live from

NHK Osaka Hall NHK Hall is a part of the NHK Osaka, located in Otemae, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. Its address is 4-1-20, Chūō-ku, Osaka, 540-8501. This facility has a capacity of 1,417 seats. See also *NHK Hall The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the ...

. The program is typically 45 minutes in length, but the premiere episode was 73 minutes long, and featured

Ikimonogakari The romanization of the group's name does not have the hyphen according to Sony's websites for their albums. is a Japanese pop rock duo from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan consisting of Yoshiki Mizuno and Kiyoe Yoshioka. The group started in Februa ...

Tatsuya Ishii , also known as Tatuya Ishii (born September 22, 1959) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, artist, and industrial designer from Ibaraki Prefecture. Biography In 1985, he debuted as vocalist in the band . In 1992, their single won the Japanese ...

Sayuri Ishikawa is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Ga ...

, Yukino Ichikawa, Midori Oka,

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

, Chris Hart, Saburo Kitajima, Ayaka Hirakawa,

Fuyumi Sakamoto is a Japanese female enka singer under EMI Music Japan. Career Having won a singing contest in early 1986, and after receiving about 11 months of vocal training, Sakamoto debuted as an enka recording singer with the single "Abare Daiko" in March ...

Akira Fuse is a Japanese singer and actor. He debuted in 1965 with the single . Career His greatest hits are and . He currently makes consistent appearances on television, performs occasional seasonal tours, hosts a late night talk show, and is involved ...

, Keisuke Yamauchi,

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multinational classical crossover vocal group. Formed in the United Kingdom in 2003, it is a male quartet that was created and then promoted by British media magnate Simon Cowell for Syco Music, a record label that he had ...

and Sumire. From its premiere until March 2019, the show aired at 19:30 JST. Starting from April 2019, the show airs every Tuesday at 19:57 JST, with variety show "Sarameshi" preceding ''Utacon''. In March 2020, the show started to be produced without a public audience, in order to avoid the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, with artists performing in remote locations. On March 9, 2021, the program debuted its new graphics and visual identity, and also started to be broadcast directly from

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Toky ...

, as NHK Hall was temporarily closed for renovations. To mark the beginning of the new phase of the show, a special program was broadcast live from the new venue, with performances by Masashi Sada, Shizuka Kudo, Kiyoshi Hikawa, Miyuki Nakajima, Yuki Kashiwagi, Naotaro Moriyama and Yuta Orisaka, in addition to a memorial commemorating 10 years since the

Great East Japan Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

. On July 5, 2022, the show returned to NHK Hall.

Staff

;Presenters *

Shōsuke Tanihara is a Japanese actor probably best known outside Japan for his portrayal of Riki Fudoh in '' Fudoh: The New Generation'' and Hajime Kudo in '' Godzilla vs. Megaguirus''. Tanihara hosts ''Tokyo Twenty-Four Living Supported by FLET'S Hikari'', a po ...

*Naoko Hashimoto *Tomoko Kogō *Chieko Katayama *

Nonoka Akaki is a Japanese female announcer and newscaster for NHK. Early years Born and raised in Okayama, Japan, Akaki graduated from Keio University. During college, she won the Runner Up title in the Yukata Beauty Contest, Tokyo's local beauty pageant ...

*Asa Ishibashi ;Production Company *NHK Enterprises ;Live Orchestra *music concerto {{small, (Conductor: Takahiro Kaneko)

External links

Official website
NHK original programming 2016 Japanese television series debuts Japanese music television series