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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines two Japanese divas (utahime), who are emblematic of particular eras, within the history of Kōhaku Utagassen. I will consider to whom these diva figures 'belong', and what role the contest has played in validating their status as era-defining utahime in a changing media landscape.

Paper long abstract:

In late 2018, as pop singer Amuro Namie announced her retirement, many music journalists lamented that the soon-to-commence Reiwa era might never see a national utahime ('diva') of her calibre. Where the public have designated Amuro the representative diva of Heisei period, the late Misora Hibari, beloved star of post-war stage and screen, and of Japan's modernity (Yano, 2017), remains the 'national' diva of the Shōwa period. But how exactly do these stars attain their 'national utahime' status, and what does this status mean?

Inspired by an edited volume on divas throughout Japanese history (Miller and Copeland, 2018) this paper is a comparison of the role that Kōhaku Utagassen plays in creating these emblematic 'national' Japanese utahime, and a consideration of to whom these stars belong. Though there is an apparent national consensus about who Japan's era-defining divas are, changes to the way music and television are consumed in Japan and ambiguities inherent to the term utahime mean that defining a diva is not a simple task.

Whilst Misora Hibari's 1960s appearances saw Kōhaku's audience share hover around the 80 per cent mark, Amuro Namie's turn of the century appearances were to an audience almost half the size. I use the cases of Misora Hibari and Amuro Namie, especially the latter's era-ending retirement performance, to argue that although Kōhaku may be less 'national' in terms of consumption, the show's role as an inductor of utahime into the 'national' popular music canon is maintained to this day.

At the same time, this paper examines how the definition of utahime relates to the Anglosphere notion of the pop diva in the context of previous research into divas as queer icons (Dyer, 1986, Lugowski, 2008, Baker, 2017). It explores the relationship between the canon of iconic, era-defining Japanese divas curated by Kōhaku Utagassen to 'unite the nation' (Brunt, 2014), and their positioning as objects of adoration amongst communities that may see themselves as pushed out of hegemonic notions of 'nation'. By analysing Japan's utahime, this paper aims to draw attention to the complexities of a divas as national, and transnational figures of identification.