Last year, NHK's annual New Year's Eve song contest, "Kohaku Uta Gassen" (7:15-11:45 p.m.), enjoyed its first ratings boost in more than a decade. As the most hallowed tradition in Japanese broadcasting, the program offered some needed end-of-year holiday solace for a nation still recovering emotionally from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. Nobody expects the same ratings for this year's show, which is being characterized for what it isn't going to feature. There will be no K-pop because of the diplomatic chill over the Takeshima/Dokdo territorial dispute, and enka (Japanese ballads) singer Sachiko Kobayashi wasn't invited.

For three decades, Kobayashi has been the biggest draw on "Kohaku" due to her outlandish costumes. Some think she was snubbed because of a scandal involving her ex-manager, while others assume that enka is being shoved off of the "Kohaku" roster by J-pop. Enka aficionados are actually more miffed by the fact that NHK rejected Miyuki Kawanaka, a 14-time veteran of the show, despite the fact that in 2012 she attracted viewers to NHK's morning drama and saw one of her singles scale the pop charts, which is quite unusual for enka. The big news for this year is the debut of both Momoiro Clover Z and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.

But the "Kohaku" loss may be another show's gain. According to an article in Shukan Post, commercial broadcasters are willing to pay Kobayashi and her getup (apparently, she had already spent ¥100 million on it when she learned NHK dumped her) big money to appear on their own New Year's Eve programs. So far, none has announced a deal, but the most likely employer would be TV Tokyo, whose live-music special, "Nippon no Uta" ("Japanese Songs," 5-9:30 p.m.), has, for 45 years, welcomed all the enka stars that NHK hasn't. The Post implies that any station would be happy to get a PR boost from Kobayashi, since they're all struggling to impress viewers who need to be convinced they should spend New Year's Eve watching a particular show in the company of relatives they're already sick of. Apart from NHK, Nippon TV is considered the ratings front-runner this year because it was the front-runner last year with a 15 share and it's airing the same show, a special six-hour edition of the variety series "Dauntaun no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende" ("Downtown's This Is No Job for Kids," 6:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.). It's the seventh New Year's in a row that NTV has resorted to the show, despite the fact that ratings for the weekly series have been dropping steadily. The content normally involves "punishment games" and watching little kids run errands unsupervised. This year's special is about "enthusiastic teachers," and the sketches have already been taped on location at real schools. Reportedly, Hitoshi Matsumoto, the half of the hosting comedy duo Downtown who writes all the material, has grown tired of the show and hopes it's canceled. The Post described the New Year's special as a few good jokes tied together by "long stretches of monotony."