The 48th Annual Japan Record Awards took place at the New National Theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo, on December 30, 2006, starting at 6:30PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS.

• "Ikken" (ja)
  • Singer: Kiyoshi Hikawa
  • Lyricist: Yurio Matsui (ja)
  • Composer: Hideo Mizumori (ja)
  • Arranger: Makoto Saeki (ja)
  • Record label: Columbia Music Entertainment

• Kumi Koda

• Ayaka

Best New Artist nominations

• Ayaka
• SunSet Swish
• Aki Yamamoto (ja)
• WaT

Japan Record Award nominations

• Kiyoshi Hikawa – "Ikken"
• BoA – "Winter Love"
• Mihimaru GT – "Kibun Jōjō ￪￪" (ja)
• Kobukuro – "Kimi to Iu Na no Tsubasa" (ja)
• Kaori Mizumori – "Kumano Kodō"
• W-inds – "Boogie Woogie 66" (ja)
• Nakamonomori Band (ja) – "Fly High" (ja)
• Sukima Switch – "Boku Note" (ja)
• Koda Kumi – "Yume no Uta"
• Ai Otsuka – "Ren'ai Shashin"

• Hiroshi Itsuki – "Takasebune"
  • Singer: Hiroshi Itsuki

• Miyuki Nakajima – "Sorafune
  • Singer: Tokio

• Takeshi Kobayashi – "Yubi Kiri"
  • Singer: Yo Hitoto

• Hideaki Tokunaga – Vocalist 2 (ja)
• Mitsuko Nakamura (ja) – Yarōtachi no Uta
• Folk Song Yearbook 1966–1982  Folk & New Music Complete Works
  • King Records, Columbia Music Entertainment, Sony Music Direct, Teichiku Records, EMI Music Japan, Nippon Crown, JVC Kenwood Victor Entertainment, For Life Music Entertainment, Pony Canyon, Yamaha Music Communications, Universal Music Japan
• Yoshida Tadashi Dango Album II
  • Yoshida Tadashi Orchestra, Yoshinao Ōsawa (ja), JVC Kenwood Victor Entertainment

• Toshiko Akiyoshi
• Exile and Koda Kumi – "Won't Be Long"
• Kigurumi – "Tarako Tarako Tarako" (ja)
• Ryoko Moriyama and Begin – "Nada Sōsō"
• Masashi Sada – Natsu Nagasaki kara Sada Masashi (ja)

• Yū Aku
• Hiroshi Ashino (ja)
• Sanechika Andō (ja)
• Hiroshi Eguchi (ja)
• Rei Nakanishi
• Tadao Hirayama
• Takeharu Yamamoto (ja)

• Yukio Aoshima
• Shōsuke Ichikawa (ja)
• Akira Ifukube
• Hiroshi Uchiyamada (ja)
• Setsuo Ohashi (ja)
• Masako Kawada (ja)
• Teruhiko Kuze (ja)
• Tōroku Takagi (ja)
• Keiko Matsuyama (ja)
• Satoshi Mihara (ja)
• Hiroshi Miyagawa (ja)

• Toru Funamura (ja)

Awarded by the Japan Composer's Association

• Miko Takegawa (ja)

• 57th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen

• Official Website.
• Complete list of all winners Archived 2021-05-06 at the Wayback Machine.