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What Japan’s Public Broadcaster Did — and Why It Made So Many Japanese Angry

Japan’s national public broadcaster, NHK, is funded by the public and entrusted with protecting Japan’s history and collective memory. That is why what happened during this year’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen caused such deep anger across Japan.

 

During the broadcast, the K-pop group aespa appeared on stage, and their performance began with a large, intense flash of light that many viewers felt was uncomfortably reminiscent of imagery associated with nuclear destruction. Given Japan’s history, even symbolic references to such events carry deep emotional weight, especially on a national public broadcast.

 

However, the real problem began long before the show aired.

 

One aespa member, NingNing, a Chinese-born performer, had posted back in 2022 that she liked her new “life stand,”which displayed a Mushroom Cloud Lamp. This was not hidden information. It was public, searchable, and widely discussed online. NHK, as Japan’s public broadcaster, should have been aware of this before selecting aespa for the country’s most important television program of the year.

 

Because of this past controversy, over 140,000 people signed petitions weeks before Kōhaku, urging NHK not to feature aespa. These petitions were not emotional outbursts after the fact — they were warnings in advance. NHK chose to ignore them.

 

When aespa appeared on the show, NingNing was absent, but the group was still staged. To many Japanese viewers, this felt like a symbolic gesture rather than real accountability.

 

My view is that NHK found itself in a no-win situation. Canceling aespa could have triggered international backlash, especially involving China. Proceeding would anger Japanese viewers. NHK chose to proceed — and in doing so, it sacrificed domestic public trust.

 

This is not a post against aespa. It is about NHK’s failure in performer selection, due diligence, and accountability, despite being funded by the very people it ignored.