# Utaban

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{{Short description|Japanese television series}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2010}}
{{nihongo|'''''Utaban'''''|うたばん}} was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/|title=Broadcast information - Latest Utaban|publisher=TBS|access-date=2010-03-23|language=ja|archive-date=2008-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730053627/http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/|url-status=dead}}</ref> on [TBS](/source/Tokyo_Broadcasting_System). The name of the show is an abbreviation of {{nihongo|"'''uta ban'''gumi"|歌番組}}, meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally aired under the name {{nihongo|''Tokuban''|とくばん}}, an abbreviation of {{nihongo|"'''toku'''betsu '''ban'''gumi"|特別番組}}, meaning "special program".

The show's theme song, played during the opening sequence and closing credits, was "[These Boots Are Made for Walkin'](/source/These_Boots_Are_Made_for_Walkin')" by [Nancy Sinatra](/source/Nancy_Sinatra).

==History==
{{Expand section|date=March 2010}}
The show was first broadcast on October 16, 1996. Originally supposed to be called "J-Pop Hour",{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} it was hosted by [Takaaki Ishibashi](/source/Takaaki_Ishibashi), of comedy duo [Tunnels](/source/Tunnels_(owarai)), and [Masahiro Nakai](/source/Masahiro_Nakai), leader of boy band [SMAP](/source/SMAP). [Hello! Project](/source/Hello!_Project) idol group [Morning Musume](/source/Morning_Musume) were frequent guests on the show, at one point appearing almost weekly.

Nakai was briefly replaced by TBS announcer Shin'ichirō Azumi in late June 2006, due to [conjunctivitis](/source/conjunctivitis).

After 13 and a half years on air, the show made its final broadcast on March 23, 2010. It was reformatted into a new show called {{Nihongo|''The Music Hour''|ザ・ミュージックアワー}}, also hosted by Ishibashi and Nakai, which aired on TBS from April 20 to September 14, 2010.

==Performers==

===Moderators (MC)===
*[Takaaki Ishibashi](/source/Takaaki_Ishibashi)
*[Masahiro Nakai](/source/Masahiro_Nakai)

===Others===
*{{nihongo|Shinji Suzuki|鈴木 慎治||Kagaku-kun (化学くん)}}
*{{nihongo|[Kō Chūbachi](/source/K%C5%8D_Ch%C5%ABbachi)|中鉢 功||Bachikō (鉢功), Chū-chan (中ちゃん)}}
*{{nihongo|[Ayu Yamanouchi](/source/Ayu_Yamanouchi)|山内 あゆ||a TBS announcer}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/ Official Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730053627/http://www.tbs.co.jp/utaban/ |date=2008-07-30 }} (Japanese)

Category:Japanese variety television shows
Category:Japanese music television series
Category:TBS Television (Japan) original programming
Category:1990s Japanese television series
Category:2000s Japanese television series
Category:2010s Japanese television series
Category:1996 Japanese television series debuts
Category:2010 Japanese television series endings
Category:Masahiro Nakai

{{Japan-tv-prog-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Utaban](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utaban) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utaban?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.