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Detective Conan Creator Gōshō Aoyama to Judge This Year's Kōhaku Song Battle

The NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (Kōhaku Song Battle) program's X (formerly Twitter) account announced the eight guest judges for the 75th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on Wednesday:

The guest judges for the New Years Eve music show are manga creator Gōshō Aoyama, comedian Teruyoshi Uchimura, tennis player Yui Kamiji, actors Yūmi Kawai and Ryusei Yokohama, professional skateboarder Yuto Horigome, ballet dancer Yoko Morishita, and scriptwriter Erika Yoshida (best known for Bocchi the Rock! and Tiger & Bunny, as well as The Tiger and Her Wings in live-action). The judge's profiles are available on the NHK website.

Japanese newspaper Sankei Sports reported Aoyama's role in the 75th Kōhaku on December 13. The newspaper stated they received a tip that Aoyama, Horigome, and Morishita would be among the special judges for the show. NHK made no announcements regarding guest judges for the show prior to the Sankei Sports report.

The 75th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen will air in Japan on December 31 from 7:20 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. (5:20 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. EST) :on NHK General TV, BSP4K, BS8K, NHK Radio 1, and NHK Plus. NHK announced this year's artist lineup last month.

Sources: NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen's X/Twitter account, NHK's website, Sankei Sports