Kohaku Contest Gender Switcheroo

[Mulboyne]

Gorie and Akiko Wada
Mainichi: Yumin makes first Kohaku appearance, Wada sings for guys, Gorie for gals
... A New Year's Eve tradition in Japan, Kohaku pits male performers, who sing as the White team, against women, who perform as members of the Red team. This year, however, Akiko Wada, a burly woman often described as showing "manly" characteristics, will perform with the White men's team, while cross-dressing star Gorie will join the women.

[Taro Toporific]

...Akiko Wada, a burly woman often described as showing "manly" characteristics, will perform with the White men's team, while cross-dressing star Gorie will join the women.

I assume this is yet another example of Japanese passive-agressive management. In order to fire Akiko Wada from job of more than a decade as "leader" of the women's team, NHK makes a "joke" out of it using the tranny Gorie.

Does anybody know, who the new leader of the women's Red team is?

[maraboutslim]

In order to fire Akiko Wada from job of more than a decade as "leader" of the women's team

Has she really been the leader? I remember her doing it in the late 90s but not since then.

But then again, even though I've probably "watched" the show a dozen times, I didn't even realize the men and women were on separate teams so obviously I didn't pay much attention!

[Greener]

I haven't actually seen Akiko do anything but host shows in many years so this would have gone unnoticed on my part without this announcement.

Quick question to the FG's who have been in Japan longer, did the guys from the "Yatta" video get on this show? (I think they were called Happotai)

[vince]

Wada Akiko's comic image used to be "are you a man or a woman" years ago, but it has been downplayed the last couple of decades.

Maybe she is being punished for revealing that she is Korean...

[vince]

duplicate!

How come all my posts get doubled??

(maybe it's because I don't know the proper use of the "quote" function)

[American Oyaji]

You really meant it, didn't you vince?

[madeira]

Nobody will ever convince me that Akiko Wada was ever female.

An indeterminably-sexed baby who had male genitalia removed, maybe. But still, male.