My School Days was a GRAPH feature where performers were asked about their memories of both mainstream school and their time in the Takarazuka Music School.
The March 2009 issue features Toki Irisu, Shirosaki Ai, Ozuki Tooma, and Yumeno Seika.
My School Days
Cosmos Troupe: Toki Irisu
Elementary/Middle/High School
My favorite subjects
I was pretty diligent, so I liked everything, but I think actually I liked PE mot of all. I was a fast runner, and good at mat exercises and ball games…I know I’m bragging here (laughs), but I always got 5s in PE.
My memories of school trips
I went to Kyoto in middle school. I remember that we split up in groups of 6 and made our own itineraries to tour the temples, and we saw a lot, but [our group] got too ambitious and ran out of time, so we were rushing our way in to temples that were about to close.
My club membership
I didn’t have any clubs. I was a diligent little bookworm (laughs), so I was always going to cram schools, and I also worked hard to go to ballet and other lessons for myself.
My memories of graduation
In elementary school we were all just going to the local middle school, so I wasn’t lonely, but for middle school we were all splitting up to go to different high schools, so I was sad about it. I also had uncertainty about what would become of me in the future, since I was trying out for Takarazuka.
Takarazuka Music School
My favorite subjects
Classical ballet, modern dance, and koto. During koto, I could space out while everyone else was playing (laughs), and the classroom was always warm and sunny, so it was a very soothing class.
My memories of school trips
When we went to Hokkaido as Upper Students, it was a cycle of eating, goofing around, sleeping, and more eating (laughs), and on the last day we were all playing around trying to pull in each other’s uniform belts. It was so fun.
My Lower Student cleaning station
I was in charge of Classroom 2 and in front of the staff room. Lower Students are supposed to hide trash behind their backs when they go to throw it out, but one day, when I was running full out holding a fluorescent light, it ended up being longer than the school doorway was wide, so I was clattering around in the doorway (laughs), and got laughed at by the classmates who saw it happen.
My strongest memory
I injured my leg about the day before the Dance Recital, but I wanted to do it more than anything so I still performed. I’m so grateful for the kindness of my classmates back then… It made me understand that no matter how much you rehearse it just turns into dust in the wind if you unjure yourself. After entering the company I got into the habit of looking after myself carefully, so I think it was a good experience.
Moon Troupe: Shirosaki Ai
Elementary/Middle/High School
My favorite subjects
In general I hated studying (laughs), but I liked history. I’m still a fan of museums now.
My memories of school trips
Every summer, we would go stay at a school dorm in Karuizawa. In the train we ate stewed rice bowls by ‘Oginoya’, and spent the whole time surrounded by nothing but nature and forests. I’m still close with the frends I spent that time together with every year, so I feel like they’re my lifelong friends.
My club membership
I did a little in elementary school, and then in middle school, I joined the theatre club. There were a bunch of girls who liked Takarazuka, so we put on Takarazuka shows sometimes. Even though I’d written scripts, directed, and acted all myself, I ranked 40th on the first acting exam after enrolling in the Music School (laughs).
My memories of graduation
It was an ‘escalator school’, so I don’t remember ever struggling too much. But during my Middle School graduation, since I was getting ready for the Music School entrance exam at the same time, I was thinking about how I wanted to pass, but if I passed I’d have to part with all my friends… All I was thinking about was the entrance exam, basically.
Takarazuka Music School
My favorite subjects
I loved dancing, but after enrolling in the Music School, I ended up feeling down about my level of inability a lot of the time. So the subject I liked instead was…Japanese Dance and Tea Ceremony, maybe. Since in Tea Ceremony I got to eat traditional sweets (laughs).
My memories of school trips
It was so fun going to Shirahama in my Lower Student year. As Lower Students we couldn’t go out anywhere, so of course when were able to go on that trip it made us so happy. Also, I love pandas, so when I went to Adventure World for the first time and saw a panda I was so moved!
My Lower Student cleaning station
I was the supervisor for the Japanese Dance classroom. At first I was just surprised, you know, ‘What! We’re cleaning THAT scrupulously?’ (laughs). But thanks to that when it comes time for New Years’ Cleaning, I’ll get down and dirty with it and even use a toothbrush.
My strongest memory
The teaching was so demandingly detailed, and I got scolded a lot, but I I thought a ton about the meaning of it. It made me realize how important it is to think about things in-depth myself, no matter what it is. I really learned so many things.
Snow Troupe: Ozuki Tooma
Elementary/Middle/High School
My favorite subjects
P.E. I liked vaulting boxes and mat exercises and all that, and sometimes in Elementary we would play a version of tag called ‘cops and robbers’ (laughs). I had so much fun with it (laughs).
My memories of school trips
When we went on our Middle School trip to Tokyo, I desperately wanted to go to the penny candy lane in Nishinippori, so I begged the people in my assigned group for free touring time and got them to fit it into the schedule (laughs).
My club membership
In summer I did swimming, in winter I did volleyball, and when there was a sports festival I would get recruited for track and field, so as you can see, I was doing all kinds of different things at the same time (laughs).
My memories of graduation
In middle school, I didn’t cry on the day of my graduation, but I remember bursting into tears along with everybody else in my class the day before (laughs). We had all been together ever since elementary school, so we were so sad about splitting up to start high school.
Takarazuka Music School
My favorite subjects
Voice and Tap Dance. I struggled with reading sheet music, but I liked the process of gradually picking up on the notes and getting into a song, or diving into a dance that I’d worked so hard to learn the choreography for.
My memories of school trips
I remember the party entertainment we performed at our trip destination during our Upper Student year (laughs). We’re women, of course, but the otokoyaku were ‘crossdressing’ for a dance number (laughs). I was so stressed about whether I’d do it right that until we’d actually done the performance I couldn’t even think about sightseeing (laughs).
My Lower Student cleaning station
The auditorium lobby. I would wipe down the class doors together with Natsuzora Momomi. We’d stand one on the inside and one on the outside of the glass and move our cleaning cloths with exactly the same movements, like we were reflections in a mirror (laughs).
My strongest memory
Talking about all kinds of things together with my classmates. We’d talk about what kind of stage names we were thinking of, or what might happen when we entered the company…that time spent talking all about our dreams was so much fun.
Star Troupe: Yumeno Seika
Elementary/Middle/High School
My favorite subjects
In middle school it was Social Studies. Me and four of my childhood friends got together and used songs to memorize all the things we had to remember, like historical dates and the duties of the National Diet. That was so much fun. We all had a great time figuring out how to make the words fit the music.
My memories of school trips
On my middle school trip we went to an antique locomotive museum, and I remember strongly that I got really scared when I had to go down a narrow path flanked by giant old locomotives. I can’t handle things that are bigger than me (laughs).
My club membership
For my three years in middle school, I mainly did softball, and during track season I also did long-distance relay. By the end, I was vice-captain of the softball team, but we were really bad (laughs). During third year, I hit my only home run during an actual game and I was so excited.
My memories of graduation
My close friends and I made a ‘memory tape’. We secretly recorded our teachers saying funny things in class (laughs), and recorded ourselves saying a lot too. Even though I’m the one who made it, I can’t help but think ‘this is so pure’ when I’m listening to it now.
Takarazuka Music School
My favorite subjects
Piano. Everything else was totally new to me, so I was struggling just to keep up, but I had been doing piano since I was 5 years old and loved it, so I had practiced every day.
My memories of school trips
On our school trip, we had lunch at a restaurant with unlimited bread. I love bread, so I didn’t even glance at the rest of the menu and just devoted myself to eating bread (laughs). Normally for unlimited bread they only put out small pieces, but I was so moved that they had out normal size bread (laughs). I had 16 or 17 pieces.
My Lower Student cleaning station
I was in charge of the auditorium restrooms. I was especially proud of how sparkling clean I kept the sinks (laughs). But it got awfully cold in the winter, and since all we were allowed to use was water my hands would go really numb so it was so difficult. Once, it was so cold my hands just went stiff and it was like ‘I can’t move at all!’ until the cleaning time finally ran out on me (laughs).
My strongest memory
Since I was the only person from Saga Prefecture dropped into that environment, everything was so impactful (laughs), but I think what had the biggest impression on me was the dorm life. I would listen to everyone in the dorm talking about Tokyo or Osaka or Kobe, and it made for a fun learning process about ‘big city life’.