In this feature from Kageki, several siennes talk about skills they have that they don’t get to show off on stage. This issue features Kijou Mitsuru, Ouji Kaoru, Hiroka Yuu, and Ayaki Hikari.
Takarasienne Talent Showcase!
Takarasiennes show off their special talents!
Kijou Mitsuru, Moon Troupe: Synchronized Swimming
I was taking swimming from the time I was really little, but in 1st grade my mother said ‘Wouldn’t you rather do synchronized swimming? It’s just the same,’ and I fell for it (laughs). I was already taking ballet then, so I thought they’d blend well and started taking lessons at a club operated through the prefecture. In the end I went for ballet, so I only really did it for the 6 years of elementary school, but around 5 days a week I’d head to the club after school, and on top of the synchronized swimming lessons I did ballet, jazz dance, marathon, swimming…day after day I had Spartan training until dark. Once it got so tough that I started crying, but then I was told ‘You did even better while you were crying!’ so I was like ‘Dammit!’ (laughs). But at the prefectural sports meet I won a trophy in the junior division! Because of the stamina that gave me, I don’t get out of breath much on stage, and it was a good experience for me.
Ouji Kaoru, Snow Troupe: Awa-Odori1
Due to my father’s work we lived in Tokushima Prefecture for 5 years, until I was in 2nd grade. And if you’re in Tokushima, obviously there’s Awa-Odori. It’s not an exaggeration that all the kids in Tokushima do Awa-Odori; I was assigned to a children’s ren (‘team’) too. It wasn’t just around the yearly festival for O-Bon, either. Even the adults would habitually practice after getting home from work, and though this might be a bit extreme it really felt as if everyone was just living for festival time. After that, we moved to Osaka, and to take the place of Awa-Odori I started taking ballet – so it’s sort of thanks to Awa-Odori that I’m in Takarazuka now (laughs). When I was in the 1st and 2nd year of middle school in Osaka, I was able to find an Awa-Odori school run by a rakugo performer from Tokushima. Even now when I hear rakugo I get really stirred up. Everyone, please try to see genuine Awa-Odori at least once. It’s really exciting!
Hiroka Yuu, Star Troupe: Chinese
My father is from Taiwan and he would talk to me in Taiwanese from the time I was really little. Also, my grandparents would talk in a mixture of Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese. Taiwanese and Chinese are about as different as different dialects of Japanese, so when I thought ‘It would be really nice if I could speak a bit more’ I started taking Chinese in elementary school. During the Taiwan performance2 I would explain things to everyone else and such, but since I haven’t studied in a while I can’t really call myself fluent; I’m at a conversational level. The word for ‘thank you’, ‘謝謝/Xièxiè’, is one I like. ‘Go for it!’, ‘加油/Jiāyóu’, is another I like since my father would shout that at sports meets. I like how clearly the meaning comes across in Chinese. I would love to be able to put it to use in a show set in Taiwan or China, so if there is another Taiwan tour I’d really like to go! (laughs)3
Ayaki Hikaru, Flower Troupe: Kendama4
When I was in elementary school, I had the chance to learn kendama from someone in my region. I didn’t keep with it for very long, but last year I saw a kendama at a store that I fell in love with and bought on impulse, and before I knew it I was obsessed… I haven’t been without one since. I know a lot of tricks, but my favorite is ‘the lighthouse’5. You start out holding the ball, and catch the handle on top so it looks like a lighthouse. The appeal of kendama for me is first off, that it’s fun; also there’s the element of success and failure, so it’s a really great feeling to get a trick right. There’s also the fun of learning new skills, and you can even get official kendama certification so I really recommend it (laughs). As for me, I want to use all sorts of different kinds of kendama and challenge myself with the really large ones. My dream is to be able to use kendama on stage sometime.
1 – Awa-Odori is the term for the yearly dance festival in Tokushima as well as the dances performed there. It is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over a million tourists per year. This is footage from the 2016 festival.
2 – Takarazuka Japonisme/The Bandit Chu Liuxiang Side Story/Etoile de Takarazuka tour, 2013.
3 – Hiroka later participated in the 2018 Taiwan tour of Thunderbolt Fantasy.
4 – A traditional ball-and-stick toy from Japan that has recently also become popular in the West.