Enka singer Hiroshi Miyama appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which aired on February 11th. Miyama, who continues his kendama challenge at the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen at the end of the year, talked about how he got hooked on kendama.
Miyama, who has a 4th-degree Kendama certification, has recently been dubbed the "Kendama Enka Singer." When asked about his first encounter with Kendama, he said, "After making my debut at the age of 28, I thought I wanted to play Kendama with my fans. I wanted to enjoy this old-fashioned game and turn it into an event."
As she is active as an enka singer, she did not initially have any intention of taking up kendama. "When I tried it, I found it surprisingly fun, and I got hooked. I'm a fairly single-minded person, and once I start something, I want to see it through to the end. Kendama suited me," she said.
At last year's NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, he attempted to break the "Kendama Guinness World Record" and broke the world record with 129 consecutive successful attempts. This was his ninth time taking on the Kendama challenge at Kohaku, but he said that last year was the most nerve-wracking.
"About half of the contestants were performing on the Red and White stage for the first time, so there was a lot of pressure. Among them, the first performer, Ariyoshi (Hiroyuki), dropped his head three times during the rehearsal and ended up having to pick it up with his hands. At that time, I thought maybe this year wouldn't work out, but I think (Ariyoshi) had practiced a lot in preparation for the real thing," he revealed.
