It was announced on December 12th that Shinichiro Azumi Yasuzumi and actress Haruna Kawaguchi will serve as the general hosts of the 67th The Japan Record Awards (TBS), which will be broadcast on December 30th. This will be Yasuzumi's 14th consecutive year since 2012, and Kawaguchi's third consecutive year. This will be the first time the same person has hosted three consecutive years since Masaaki Sakai and Norika Fujiwara did so from 2009 to 2011. Who has hosted the awards for the longest time in the awards' 67-year history? We'll introduce the awards' hosts along with the number of times and the year they were held.
◇The longest record holder will receive a special award this year and appear on live TV
This year marks the 67th The Japan Record Awards. The first was held in 1959 and hosted by Tsuruta Masao, who was then an announcer for Radio Tokyo (now TBS). The second to sixth awards (1960-1964) were hosted by announcer Akutagawa Takayuki, and the seventh to tenth awards (1965-1968) were hosted by Miki Ayuro.
Announcer Keizo Takahashi hosted the show for 15 consecutive years, from the 11th (1969) to the 25th (1983). Takahashi's stellar hosting style is surely remembered by anyone over the age of 50. This record was thought to be unbreakable, but comedian Masaaki Sakai broke the longest-serving record by hosting for 16 consecutive years, from the 38th (1996) to the 53rd (2011) editions.
This year's host, Yasuzumi, served as the program's lead announcer for 11 years from 2001, before succeeding Sakai as the host from the 54th edition (2012), marking his 14th consecutive year in the role. He is now within sight of Takahashi and Sakai's records.
At a recent press conference where he served as the general host, announcer Yasuzumi said, "This year's special award recipient Sakai will likely be performing on stage with everyone from Rockon Social Club, and he has a 'Mr. Record Award' vibe, so I'm looking forward to talking to him." Attention is focused on what he will discuss with Sakai during the show.
There is much interest in whether the record will continue next year and beyond, but Yasuzumi joked, "Being asked to host Japan's leading music festival is an honor and a joy for me as an announcer. If there are any juniors who look like they might surpass me with the accumulation of experience every year, I'll be sure to crush them (laughs)," showing her enthusiasm to break the record.
◇The longest record for a woman is five years in a row, and it's a big-name actress
The general hosting role was a single man until the 12th edition (1970), but after the 13th edition (1971), when Takahashi and actress Yamamoto Yoko shared the role, it became standard for a male-female pair to host the show. There have also been cases where three people have hosted the show; for example, in the 19th and 20th editions (1977 and 1978), Takahashi was joined by Kume Hiroshi and Kuroyanagi Tetsuko, two of the hosts of the same station's music program, "The Best Ten."
In recent years, the 48th and 49th editions (2006 and 2007) were hosted by Sakai, Moe Oshikiri, and Yuri Ebihara, and the 50th edition (2008) was hosted by Sakai, Aya Ueto, and Nao Matsushita.
The longest-running female hosting record is held by actor Mori Mitsuko, who hosted for five consecutive years from the 14th to 18th festivals (1972-1976). Next is Takeshita Keiko, who hosted for four consecutive years from the 23rd to 26th festivals (1981-1984). Takeshita also hosted once at the 28th festival (1986), bringing her total to five, the same as Mori.
Since Yasuzumi became the general host, he has been paired with a female actor for one or two years, with Yui Aragaki hosting the 54th edition (2012), Aya Ueto hosting the 55th edition (2013), Yukie Nakama hosting the 56th and 57th editions (2014 and 2015), Yuki Amami hosting the 58th and 59th editions (2016 and 2017), Tao Tsuchiya hosting the 60th and 61st editions (2018 and 2019), Riho Yoshioka hosting the 62nd and 63rd editions (2020 and 2021), and Kasumi Arimura hosting the 64th edition (2022). This marks Kawaguchi's third year as host, following her appearances on the 65th and 66th editions (2023 and 2024), making this her longest-running pairing with Yasuzumi.
Announcer Yasuzumi and Kawaguchi showed great teamwork at the press conference announcing the general hosts. If both of them continue for another two years, they will tie the longest record. In terms of such records, we will be keeping an eye on the Record Awards from next year onwards.
The 67th The Japan Record Awards will be broadcast live from the New National Theatre (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo) on TBS for four and a half hours from 5:30 pm on December 30th. John Kabira will be narrating the show again this year.
