This interview, conducted by Ashizawa Jin, was published for Asami Hikaru’s last appearance in GRAPH before her retirement.

Asami Hikaru – Last GRAPH Interview

(Interviewer: Ashizawa Jin)

For years, Asami Hikaru has graced the stage with her impactful and sensitive performances.
In her last production, her powerful feelings for the stage seem to explode out in her acting, and the high-level technique of her dancing is beautifully imbued with her prayer of “One day, I too will be on this stage” from her days of dreaming in the audience.
Even after the performance was over, I could still sense the same invigorating atmosphere from onstage in her cheerful responses to the interview.
in her last appearance in GRAPH, please enjoy Asami Hikaru’s FINAL ANSWERS!

As an audience member, it’s incredibly satisfying to see you dancing so much in your final performance.

Ahaha… (laughs) I was dancing that much before I realized it, really… Especially in the revue show, once we finished learning all the choreography and did the first full run through of all the scenes, I thought “What!! I’m dancing this much!” (laughs) But being able to dance with all my energy for so much of the show, instead of tiring me out, gives me a wonderful feeling of relief. Before each scene starts I’ll think “Yay~, I get to dance!!”, so I guess I really do love dancing.

Did the opening day of your final production feel different from opening days in the past?

Just the same (laughs). Whenever a performance starts, I think about how I want the audience to be able to see the work in as perfect a form as I can, so even here I was thinking about the show as a whole and my own scenes rather than my retirement.

When do you feel conscious of it being your retirement performance?

Places like the very last scene of the play (Lucifer’s Tears), where Mizu’s character, Jean-Paul, says ‘So this is goodbye…’, or the section in the finale of the revue (Tarantella!) where I watch everyone dancing from the Silver Bridge. When I think “I hope they’ll all do there best”, I’m reminded that “Ah, I’m retiring!”

How does it feel to be ‘graduating’ from Takarazuka?

Hmm…how can I describe it. It feels sort of like the state of mind I was in when I left my parent’s house for Takarazuka to enroll in the Music School, maybe. It feels like I’m leaving my hometown to set out on a journey to find a new home.

What did you think of your life as a peddler of dreams?

If you ask me like that, I do feel like I can’t say just yet “I was able to give dreams to the audience.” Maybe it’s because I’m still in the middle of my farewell performance. I hope I can give more and more wonderful dreams to the audience until the very last day of my retirement.

So you want to keep pursuing that goal until the final day of the Tokyo performance?

That’s right. I want to make the quality of both halves of the production even better–the play and the revue–so for the sake of the show, I might go on a bit of an adventure (laughs) until the very last day. I don’t want it to be a show where everything is completely fixed, instead I want to show the audience a living work, a living character, a living performance.

Do you remember the first day of your debut performance?

I remember being so nervous, since we were dancing on our way down the stairs during the rockette (laughs). This is kinda scary, I thought… (laughs). But the moment I heard all the laughter from the audience, I thought “I’m so glad I’m onstage!” I can still remember the applause I got back then.

What did you struggle with most, leaving home in Sendai to enroll in the Music School?

First off, I was shocked at the Kansai dialect (laughs). If I had to describe Sendai’s regional speech patterns, it’s more relaxed, so when people were talking at me in fast Kansai dialect, at first I could hardly comprehend any of it (laughs). And when it came to the classes, there was a an odd gap due to the change in instructors, so I was a bit stranded. When you get a new teacher, somehow the foundation becomes completely different. In vocals and acting, I could take in everything the teacher said just as it was, since I was already starting from zero, but in classes like ballet or jazz dance, where up until then I had been learning from the same instructor for the entire time, it took some time to get over that gap. It was all muscle memory, so it was pretty hard.

During your time as a junior actress in Flower Troupe, there was a splendid assortment of stars like Anju Mira, Maya Miki, Aika Mire, Makoto Tsubasa, Kouju Tatsuki, Shibuki Jun, etc.

It was so much fun to go to rehearsals, and I’d often watch rehearsals for scenes I wasn’t even in. But to be honest, I was kind of following the crowd (laughs). Everyone was displaying their own unique personality and sparkling… At the time I was just watching thinking “Wow, that’s so cool, that’s amazing”, but I feel like maybe being in that environment planted something in me unconsciously that is helping me now.

Your own class was also full of talented performers. Perhaps this was good motivation for you as well?

Among my classmates, people like Hanafusa Mari, Naruse Kouki, and Aran Kei started to get roles really early on, but at the time I just watched all my classmates go thinking “You can do it, everybody! Wow, maybe there will be some stars from our class” (laughs). Back then I was nothing but a cheerleader (laughs).

In January of 1998, after transferring to Cosmos Troupe, you had your first large role, playing Prince Rudolf in Elisabeth.

They gave me such a big role, and on top of that based on a real historical figure, to perform in the Grand Theatre. He’s onstage without a break for 15 minutes, so it was a great experience for me in terms of gaining focus. Before playing Rudolf, I got to hold a concert in Esprit Hall, and I think having that chance to sing solo in front of an audience was a big help to me when it came to playing Rudolf.

I felt like when you played Yan Gai in Singing in the Moonlight, after transferring to Snow Troupe, your intense individuality blossomed all at once.

Thank you very much (laughs). Yan Gai was born as a woman, but raised as a man, and the only ones who are aware are her father, and Kozuki Wataru’s character, Man Fu. Everyone around her believes she is a man, so I couldn’t make my performance too womanly, but even so, I couldn’t just play her as a man either (laughs). It was a hard role. Also, I was able to try doing Chinese Opera seriously during that performance. A visiting Chinese Opera teacher taught me the basics, and we were able to use actual costumes and wigs used in Chinese Oper, so I ended up becoming interested in Chinese Opera myself.

You were able to celebrate in your home town during your Top Star debut tour, correct.

I was so happy back then. Although since people who knew what I was like as a little kid came, I was a little embarassed to have them see me showing off like a cool otokoyaku (laughs).

I liked Vincent, your character in Romance de Paris.

Thank you so much. I really like that role, too. After the Grand Theatre and Tokyo performances, I was able to play him in Chuunichi as well, but on the last day of the Chuunichi run I was so sad to have to say goodbye to the person called Vincent Chevalier that I started weeping. I’d felt lonely to part with a character before, but that was the first time I felt so sad about it. On every final day, not just that show, I feel more and more sad as each successive scene ends.

What inspires you to push yourself more? Being praised or being criticised?

Praise makes me really happy but somehow I don’t really believe it (laughs). “No, no way that’s true” I’ll think (laughs). Since I know myself best of all, after all. On the other hand, when I’m told opinions like “You ought to have done it more like this” or “This came off looking like that”, I can accept that very directly and think “Ah, really, I can see that,” so that inspires more fervor for the stage in me.

Do you feel the most passion when you’re dancing?

What I’ve realized after over 10 years being able to perform onstage is that singing, acting, and dance are all connected. Without an actor’s heart I can’t sing with emotion, and I can’t dance out a story. Without the muscles required for dance, I can’t sing as well or move with as much assurance when acting. And without singing ability I can’t put a sense of rhythm into the dialogue. So now singing, acting, and dance, all three feel like they’ve become one. Of course, I’ve danced since I was little, so its something I can easily express myself with. Right now I’m trying to make my dancing connect with my singing, dance, and everything.

What do you feel has changed the most between enrolling in the Music School and now?

The Takarazuka station changed (laughs). The relaxed atmosphere I used to feel when I was surrounded by the old stores and signs is vanishing. Because of that [atmosphere], I used to think ‘This place is unlike anything else in the world’. Back then, it felt just like the lyrics we would sing in ‘Oh, Takarazuka’, ‘Takarazuka, the little hot spring town’.

Can you tell me three of your most memorable shows and roles from the productions you appeared in?

That’s hard. First, Rudolf from Elisabeth, who we already talked about. Next…Maybe Tanbaya Hachiemon from Lover’s Suicide, the first show I was in after my transfer to Snow Troupe. I joined the cast for the Tokyo run of the show, and besides that it was basically my first proper Japanese-setting play. All the Snow Troupe members were already experienced in Japanese-setting dramas, so seeing how impressive they were really stressed me out… It was a production where I really got into my character’s head for the performance, so it left a real impression with me. It’s known as a masterwork among masterworks, so I felt really strongly that I couldn’t put any shame on that title. And the third…I put my whole body and soul into every role I’m given, so it’s impossible to choose.

What has changed the most within you during your life in Takarazuka?

I’m able to talk in front of people now (laughs). Until I enrolled in the Music School I was extremely introverted, actually. It’s embarassing to admit something so childish but I was only able to immediately start talking to people I had just met once I entered Takarazuka (laughs).

What is the appeal of Takarazuka, to you?

‘Takarazuka now’ only exists now, and ‘Takarazuka 5 years ago’ only existed 5 years ago—I think that’s what Takarazuka is. So I don’t want the audience to miss out on ‘the charm of Takarazuka now’, which they can only see now. Especially recently there are a lot of troupe transfers happening, and special guest appearances and things like that as well, so I feel like the amount of things that ‘only exist now’ has gone up compared to the past. Even though each troupe’s individual style still comes through clearly, Takarazuka as a whole feels like it has become much more ‘borderless’ than it was before.

Finally, what does the Takarazuka Grand Theatre mean to you?

Honestly, it feels like the Grand Theatre has become a part of my own body: I can sense how many steps it would take to get from the main stage to the Silver Bridge, or to get to center stage. And this is obvious, of course, but the theatre never changes. Even when the audience comes in and the lights come on, the physical theatre remains the same. Therefore, if I’m feeling lost or worried, when I look out on the audience from the stage, I feel ‘Ah, it’s the same theatre as ever’, and the feeling of being enveloped in something unchanging is so reassuring. Right now, I wish I could tell the Grand Theatre “Thank you so much for protecting me and looking after me for so long.”