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.

The sisters’ entrance strategy

So, since I was talking about how swept up in things I would get.

I am often asked in interviews “So, of course, you must have been a Takarazuka fan and hoping to enter the company since you were in primary school?”

But I’ll reply,

“No. When I was in high school, I saw an NHK broadcast of The Rose of Versailles. After that, I thought I wanted to join Takarazuka.”

And put the record straight.

Yes.

The truth is the truth, after all.

“Little Miko” had never seen a live Takarazuka performance before entering TMS.

In middle school, I went to a public school in Sendai.

In high school, I went to one of a nationally famous series of girls’ schools called White Lily Academy.

This was also…

My father’s dream…to get his daughters into the White Lily Academy!!

But, actually…

To tell the truth, I had wanted to go to a co-educational public highschool…

They said that if you went to White Lily, if you were seen walking down the street with your own father and the school heard of it, the teachers would question you about ‘Who was that!?’

Well, perhaps that’s just how finishing schools, or girl’s schools, are…

It’s not as if I didn’t feel a little, just a little, like it was a bit smothering.

Maybe it’s because I was the type who would rather run around outside with the boys, than sit in the classroom with the other girls, in elementary and middle school…that could be it…

It was at that time that I first encountered Takarazuka on television.

It happened that since my father had been transferred for work (policemen get transferred a lot), me and my sister were living by ourselves at our house in Sendai.

First, my sister came to like Takarazuka.

And then soon after that, I also thought ‘Wow, this is amazing!!’ and started to like Takarazuka too.

“I want to join!!”

“Do you think you could!?”

My sister was already a college student, so perhaps she wanted to fulfill her dreams vicariously through her little sister!?

In any case, we sisters decided what we would do!!

We kept this a secret from our faraway parents.

My sister worked part-time as a reporter for a radio station, and she used her pay from that job to send me to lessons.

I studied ballet and voice.

But, there were only three months until the entrance exam!!

And the sorts of people who could say ‘My parents were Takarazuka fans before I was born, and I took ballet since I was three, and studied voice in preparation for the entrance exam as soon as I entered middle school’ were all over…

But I just thought ‘I want to join!!’ and started from scratch only three months before.

And on top of that, in Sendai.

I never once thought that for ‘Little Miko’ who had only seen Takarazuka on television, this whole plan might be ‘just a waste’ in a way.

When I think back, I was very optimistic about it…

My older sister and I planned a strategy together.

My sister decided she would pay all of the entrance exam fees and expenses out of her part-time pay!!

“For the first round of the exam, you’ll stay in the Hankyuu Travel Hostel (a cheap place to stay). If you make it to the second round, you can stay in the Takarazuka Hotel!! (this is a normally-priced hotel)”

My sister calculated everything out.

And I was…me. In order to take the exam, I needed a copy of my current school’s transcript, so I was foolishly honest about it and actually told the Super Strict White Lily teacher ‘I’m going to try out for Takarazuka’ when I asked for it (although actually, it seems like just a photocopy of my report card would have been OK). So then I was called into the principal’s office and nervously had to explain when they demanded ‘Why do you want to enter Takarazuka!?’… (That same principal now comes to see my performances…these sorts of connections between people make me so happy…).

But.

We couldn’t keep this a secret from our parents the entire time.

I notified my mother about it indirectly in a letter.

The kind of response I got was,

“Hm? Well…I guess I can’t really…refuse…”

And then I told my father on New Year’s Eve. I’ll never forget.

It was in the police station chief’s official residence, right behind the station…

I went to tell him in person.

A drunk in a temporary holding cell in the station was being really noisy…

Ahaha, I only remember the strange things about the situation…I guess…

“I want to try out for Takarazuka.”

“…there’s no way you’ll get in,”

My father said.

“……”

“What will you do about highschool?”

“If I fail the entrance exam, I’ll come back, and go back to White Lily, or if I can’t, I’ll do correspondence school or something, and get my highschool diploma, and go to college. I’ll definitely make it!! Please let me take the exam.”

I was so desperate.

“Alright.”

My father nodded.

And then…

Three days into the new year, my father and mother both were laid up with stress-related gastritis.

I’m not joking at all here.

It was such a big shock that it naturally would have a physical effect.

Me and my sister were a little disappointed to miss out on the New Year’s traditional foods, but we were so happy at getting permission that we lay in our futon in the next room together and talked, ignoring our snoring parents.

“At this rate, there’s nothing for it but to do my best!” Our eyes sparkled as our thoughts raced into our future.

And then,

“You just have to make it.”

“Yeah.”

And, although I kept determinedly

working…hard…at my preparatory lessons…

If you know Takarazuka well, you may understand already.

For two sisters who had never seen Takarazuka live, with only three months of preparation for the exam, and in such a faraway place as Sendai, to tell each other ‘Let’s do our best!!’

They definitely had the cheerful optimism of their parents in their blood!! Full stop.