Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible.

It’s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!

For a table of contents with links to all the chapters, go here.

Dear My Family

Mori Keaki will soon be bidding farewell to Takarazuka, but…

How and why did I end up here, in the first place!?

So, since I have this chance, I would like to look back clearly on my life before Takarazuka.

During my career, at various different interviews, a normal question to hear was ‘What was your motivation to take the Takarazuka entrance exam?’, or, ‘When you were a child, did you have the dream of being on TV or on stage?’ and that sort of thing.

In a normal interview, the time I have to answer the questions is short, and then it will be edited down to only about 2 lines for publication…

But now,  this time I can take as much time to talk about it as I please!! You see. Hahaha…

Ah…earlier, I mentioned it just briefly, but, I was born in Sendai as the second daughter to a policeman father, and a very typical housewife mother.

I had one older sister.

Also, due to a family situation, I was raised from age 2 to age 8 at my grandmother’s house, in Kogawa.

I know that’s rather sudden to bring up.

Actually, my grandmother’s household had no successor, so, to explain briefly, I was like her foster daughter, and I lived at my grandmother’s house until my second year of primary school. (Although, honestly, I just did as I pleased a lot of the time. Haha!!)

I became very close with my grandmother over that time, so it’s not at aaaaaall like any of those tearjerker stories you’ve seen in old shojo manga.

So, in other words, even though I was a second child, for a while, my life was just as if I was an only child.

That’s what I wanted to say.

And, after a while, luckily, my grandmother found another heir for her household, and I returned to my father and mother, but…

When I think now, if I had remained in my grandmother’s house like that,

I realize:

‘Oh… The ‘me’ now wouldn’t exist…’

This is another,

Of life’s ‘turning points’…I guess?

……………………

Ah, sorry.

I got a bit caught up in my thoughts.

I’ll go back to the story now.

So, I returned to Sendai, but I had been raised as an only child,

And at that, by my grandmother!!

And on the other hand, my older sister had been like an only child herself for a long time while I was gone.

So when suddenly ‘your little sister is back!!’…

It would be only natural at the time for my older sister to have thought ‘Why!?’ and been very upset.

However, but, however…

As for me, since I had been away from my parents for so long, of course I would want to get back all the affection I had missed out on all at once, right!?

So due to all that, for a bit, me and my sister were in a bit of a struggle (!?) over our parents’ affections.

But, despite all that we were sisters!!

This ‘relation’ thing is really something.

You can’t accept or deny a blood relationship, it just is.

Probably you understand how this sort of thing is…

In any case, since we had both experienced being ‘only children’ for such a long time, did we have many leftover effects of that, and address each other as ‘you’…?

Nooope… Even now I think rather than older and younger sister, our relationship is even closer, more like ‘best friends forever’.

Actually, my older sister has a big role in me taking the Takarazuka entrance exam. But I’ll write more on that a little later.

First, I have an announcement.

I respect my dad!! I love my dad!!

If you think of a policeman, do you have the image of somebody really brusque and stubborn? Something like a man who would relentlessly scold and yell at even his own daughter if she did something wrong…

Maybe that’s the fault of movies and TV dramas and men’s comic books…

But I suppose it’s possible that there are some people like that out of all the multitudes of policemen there are in all of Japan.

In any case, what I’m trying to say that people come in all different types, and there are all different kinds of fathers.

And then, there’s my dad.

Because of his work, he’s a very diligent person.

But, it’s not as if he’s a totally strict and rigid individual.

Surprisingly, he originally wanted to be a rakugo performer!! According to what I’ve heard, at events like police banquets he would sing and dance…he was an amazing performer, it seems. (I never observed this in person, but I hope you will take it as the truth…he retired from the police due to his age, so there aren’t any opportunities to see this for myself now…)

But, he’s so…

Unique, and fun, and warm, and most of all, kind!!

And now I’m thinking ‘It’s probably wrong to boast about your own father so much.’

The foundation of the ideal man that Mori Keaki performed,

Was probably my father…

I’ve only now started to think that.

Hm…..

My dad…

He still calls me ‘Little Miko’ even now. Since my real name is ‘Kumiko’…

And he would diligently come to see all my performances in Takarazuka, and make sure to tell me what he thought about them.

For example, during The 47 Ronin – Fall with the Flowers, Fall with the Snow,

In that show, there is a scene where, in order to trick Lord Kira and his people, Oishi Kuranosuke is spending his days in debauchery in Shumokumachi.

So, when my dad saw that.

He said ‘You looked like you were having so much fun fooling around with those geisha… Good going!’

“He~y, wait a second. Are you thinking of me as your son now!?”

No, actually, my dad…

When he sees me performing on stage, apparently he gets under the impression that I actually am a man.

Speaking of that, recently he’s been strangely happy and saying things like ‘my daughter is about to come back’.

So, while my father was so straightforward and open-hearted and understanding with his daughter, when I hear my friends or acquaintances talking, there seem to be a lot of people who say ‘My mother, well…she just doesn’t talk to my father much…;’

“Huh… So is that what it’s usually like… Maybe my house was a little out of the ordinary.”

I started to think that.

So, I should talk about my mother.

She is a PERFECT housewife!!

Everything to do with running the house is totally perfect!! Although it might be considered ‘women’s work’, there’s nothing she can’t do… She’s such an amazing person to me!! (This is a secret, but at times I’ve wished I had her for a wife)

Hmm, so, the daughter of this father and mother, the second girl in this family, ‘Little Miko’…

What kind of child was she!?

Time to investigate ‘Mori Keaki’s roots!

Or something…

Well, let’s move on, so I don’t set up too much at the start.