The final episode of the NHK program "Yamaguchi Ichiro: Living with Depression," which follows Yamaguchi Ichiro of the five-member band Sakanaction, who will be performing at the Red and White Song Festival for the first time in 12 years this year, will be broadcast on NHK General TV from 2:18 a.m. on December 30th.
Sakanaction has been on hiatus for two years since July 2022. This is due to vocalist Yamaguchi suffering from depression. During this time, Yamaguchi has been trying to figure out how to continue making music while suffering from depression.
NHK will be following Yamaguchi as he continues his musical career despite suffering from depression in two programs: "Yamaguchi Ichiro: Living with Depression - Sakanaction's Days of Revival" (broadcast on May 5, 2024) and "Yamaguchi Ichiro: Starting Again from Depression - Sakanaction's Struggle with 'Kaiju'" (broadcast on October 25, 2024). These programs document his work on creating "Kaiju."
The program will interview Yamaguchi again after the announcement of the participating singers for the 76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, which will be broadcast on New Year's Eve. In this exclusive long interview, Yamaguchi discusses how he is dealing with depression and continuing his musical career, how "Kaiju" was completed, and what message Sakanaction is trying to convey at Kouhaku, over a year and a half since the last time.
We also get a close look at Sakanaction's rehearsals for their performance on Kohaku, and get a glimpse into the members' thoughts.
