This interview with Hanagata Hikaru discussing her upcoming retirement was first published in April. It was recorded before the originally intended Tokyo opening of the show, so it does not reference the further delays and closures.

The interview was written by Murakami Kumiko and published in Nikkan Sports’ column ‘Melodious Takarazuka’. (Archive link here.) Click through for pictures!

Before retirement, Senka star remembers a miraculous 22 years – Hanagata Hikaru

Senka star Hanagata Hikaru, who is planning to retire, took part in an interview ahead of her final performance. She has been in the company for 22 years. When asked what was foundational to creating her characters, Hanagata, who is a master of manliness, replied ‘tone of voice’. Her final role, in the Star Troupe production Valley of Xuanyao/RAY, is the enemy of the protagonist. When establishing her character as a general, she decided he needed ‘a deep voice’. After cancellations, the closing performance took place in the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Hyogo prefecture, and she bid farewell to her beloved home turf.

This is her final performance as a Takarasienne. After the interview, she wrote the kanji ‘heart’ on an autograph panel. ‘This is the end of a 22-year spring. That’s a long time, such a long time.’ She is the classmate of former Star Troupe Top Star Yuzuki Reon. Although Hanagata is of a small size for an otokoyaku, she honed her allure as one of ‘The Otokoyaku’ of Flower Troupe.

After transferring to Senka in July of 2014, she was challenged with a broad variety of new roles. Her performance as Binbougami [God of Poverty] in the 2018 show ANOTHER WORLD, a unique production based on rakugo¹, was highly praised.

’[Retirement] is one path out of many that I considered. Finally I concluded ‘this is what I want to do’ and selected it. I didn’t feel the slightest hint of ‘is this really it?’–it’s the path I chose at the end of a long journey.’

She decided to retire last year, while she was performing in the final show for the previous Star Troupe Top Star, Kurenai Yuzuru. Her last production is the debut performance for Star Troupe’s new Top Combi, Rei Makoto and Maisora Hitomi. Although the Takarazuka performance was cancelled due to the effects of the novel coronavirus it held its final show. Hanagata played the antagonist general.

‘He’s blackhearted, you could say, a real villainous type..’. When putting together the role she felt ‘ears’ were important, and tried to change her voice during the performance.

‘I think the audience ultimately catches things through their ears. If you’re in the Grand Theatre, at the far side of the second floor seating, you can’t even tell if someone is wearing a beard or not. The ears come first. In this show, I use a really deep voice, like it’s echoing through the earth. Something you feel you could cut through with a knife.’

When looking back on her life in Takarauka, she thought ‘Was it really me who did all that?’ At times she concentrated too much on her roles, and they started to intrude on her daily life like an ‘unwelcome guest’. While she was performing in Gin-Chan’s Love in 2008, someone pointed out ‘Why do you keep moving your shoulders so much?’

‘Even though they’re all men, the posture and way of walking is always different. There are people like Michael Leitch, and people like Yuzuru Hanyu. Since I’m creating a ‘person’, the way of walking and voice will change every time. Since I live trying to get deeper into character, it’ll pop up in my personal life, too.’

This reply is based in her deep experience as a star pursuing what it means to be an otokoyaku. When jokingly asked ‘how much can you say’ about her life post retirement, she replied ‘I probably won’t continue’ working on stage.

‘How I feel right now is, I got this far into this because I loved being an otokoyaku. As for “blooming outside Takarazuka” that isn’t something I want to do at all. I don’t have any real interest in being an actress…’

While she was in middle school, one of her acquaintances recommended Takarazuka, and she resolved to enter, succeeding in passing the entrance exam.

‘Compared to the 106-year history [of Takarazuka], 22 years isn’t even a quarter of it. But it feels like a miracle to me. The ratio [of acceptance to the Takarazuka Music School], the ratio was really memorable too². I never thought of giving up for a moment, but looking back now I’m just glad I didn’t end up losing.’

Each year, around 40 girls enter Takarazuka. Only a few ever gain prominence, let alone become Top Star. ’22 years. A child born then would already be an adult, starting their job search…’ she said, thinking of the flow of time.

‘Being an otokoyaku is something you can only do here. The tradition advances, and there are different eras and styles. For people who don’t know Takarazuka, I think we might look a bit silly to them in some ways. But I like the worldview of this as being ‘right’, I like the unique way time flows here.’

As the ‘otokoyaku’ she loves being, she is bidding farewell to her country of dreams with her memories of Takarazuka in her heart.

1 – A traditional Japanese comedy format.

2 – I could not find details for the ratio of acceptance for the 85th class, but the record of difficulty to entry was set in 1995, 2 years before Hanagata passed the TMS exam, so it was likely also a high-difficulty year.