Sho Sakurai & Suzu Hirose Will Be Team Captains For 69th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen

NHK has announced the host and captains for the 69th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.

Serving as mediator for the second year in a row will be comedian Teruyoshi Uchimura. He will be joined by news anchor Maho Kuwako.

Arashi member Sho Sakurai will be the captain of the White Team. This will be his first time hosting alone. His previous stints as a host were between the years 2010 - 2014 as part of Arashi.

Actress Suzu Hirose will be the captain of the Red Team. This will be her first time hosting the program.

The list of performers for the program will be released at a later date.

Kohaku Uta Gassen is an only New Years Eve program hosted by NHK. Participation in the program is considered an honor reserved only for the top artists.