This photo feature, which ran in GRAPH through 2016, had subjects selecting photos they had taken with other Takarasiennes. This edition features Uzuki Hayate, Ootori Mayu, Aizuki Hikaru, and Towaki Sea.
With Sienne
Moon Troupe: Uzuki Hayate
The theme is “photos with Takarasiennes,” so since she’s preparing for her retirement and the deadline for her being a Takarasienne is approaching (laughs), I picked these photos with my good friend Yuuki (Akizuki Saya). Before the rehearsals for the Music Performance started the two of us went to New York and a bit of a funny thing happened. Totally by accident, one day Yuuki ended up wearing a shirt saying POPULAR and I ended up wearing a shirt saying PERFECT at the same time. Two Japanese women wearing the words ‘popular’ and ‘perfect’ and taking pictures posing like the Statue of Liberty…we must have looked so silly to the locals (laughs). I quit wearing this t-shirt after that (laguhs).
Flower Troupe: Ootori Mayu
On the last night of the Taiwan performance1 Director You2 collected everyone who was interested and took us to a delicious Xiaolongbao restaurant and to the night market. The night market spread out even further than I had pictured, and there was even underground parts, so I couldn’t tell where I was… There were so many kinds of things being sold, wig brushes and hair extensions, accupressure tools, socks, etc, it was so fun to see. The underground passage where we took this photo was full of the smell of chòu dòufu, and mixed with that raw shrimp sitting in colanders, and durian fruit (laughs). This time we were just looking, but I’d love to eat there sometime!
Cosmos Troupe: Aizuki Hikaru
After the last performance of A Song For Kingdoms in the Grand Theatre, I went to Okinawa with Makaze-san and some Cosmos Troupe OGs, 4 of us in all. It was my first time so I was really looking forward to it, but once we got there just as we thought we would start doing things a huge rainstorm started! It was a typhoon so there wasn’t anything to do about it, but the only day of our trip was clear was the very last one… While we were at a seaside cafe we kept saying “the sea is going to be so pretty once it clears up~” and then for some reason Makaze-san and I decided to have a shoulder breadth competition, so this is a mysterious photo (laughs). But despite all that, I got to do seaside activities and try Ryukyu glass blowing3, so I fully enjoyed myself!
Snow Troupe: Towaki Sea
These are my Snow Troupe seniors I take so much pride in! I was struggling over what photo to present, so Nozomi-san said “Well, let’s take one right now,” and all of them were good enough to gather just for me. And holding all the props that were lying around the rehearsal room for some reason… (laughs). They’re all so kind and gentle, and talk to me a lot, whether it’s advice about the arts or fun offstage conversations. Since we have a national tour coming up4 recently we’ve also been talking about where we’d like to go or what we’d like to eat, that kind of thing. It’s my first time on a national tour, so I want to do my best while learning all kinds of things!
1 – The Taiwan tour of The Rose of Versailles: Fersen and Marie Antoinette/Takarazuka Fantasia.
2 – This seems to be vocals director/vocal trainer You Shukubi, who performed with Takarazuka under the name Aomi Ren before pursuing further musical training abroad.
3 – Most likely a workshop at the Ryukyu Glass Village.
4 – Though by the time of publication the tour had already ended, at the time the photographs were submitted Snow Troupe would have been in rehearsals for Sorrowful Cordoba/La Esmeralda.