The was the 2022 (Reiwa 4) edition of NHK's New Year's Eve TV special Kōhaku Uta Gassen held on December 31, 2022. The previous year, the broadcast was held from the Tokyo International Forum, due to renovations at NHK Hall. The NHK Broadcasting Center was also used. With renovations completed in June 2022, the show returned to be broadcast live from NHK Hall. Ive, Le Sserafim, Twice, and other groups appeared. The WHITE TEAM won this contest.
Events leading up to broadcast
On October 6, NHK announced the broadcast schedule, which started at 19:20 JST, and ended at 23:45 JST on December 31, with a 5-minute break for the latest news. In addition, it will be the first time since 2019 (70th) that the show will be held with an audience at NHK Hall. On October 11, Yo Oizumi and Kanna Hashimoto were announced as the hosts.
Artist lineup
Notes
Voting System
This year, the 3-Point System was used again. One point is given from the judges, another one from audience in TIF, and last one from the viewers. The team with at least 2 points is declared winner of the 73nd edition. This year, the finale song "Hotaru no Hikari" was performed before winning team announcement.
Guest judges
Miyako Yoshida, stage manager of the New National Theatre Tokyo and dancer; Haruka Fukuhara, actress, singer and model; Kodo Nishimura, Buddhist monk, artist, author and advocate for LGBTQ rights; Mana Ashida, actress, talent and singer; Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, actress, television personality, World Wide Fund for Nature advisor, and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF; Jun Matsumoto, singer, actor, radio host and model. He is a member of the boy band Arashi; Hajime Moriyasu, football manager and former player; Munetaka Murakami, baseball infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB); Yajuro Bando, Kabuki actor; Yuzuru Hanyu, two-time Olympic champion in figure skating.