This book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.
Some paragraph breaks are added for ease of reading in English.
Continue readingAdditional interview content with Asumi Rio, published by anan on January 8, 2021. In this portion, Asumi talks about her experience of the difference between being an otokoyaku and an actress, and her time on the set of morning drama Ochoyan. The original feature, written by Mochizuki Risa [estimated reading] can be found here. (Archive link here.)
Continue readingAsumi’s first post-Takarazuka stage performance, the co-ed revival of Koike Shuuichiro’s The Poe Clan, opened today (January 11th, 2021) in Japan. Asumi did this promotional interview with anan on January 7, 2021. The original interview, written by Mochizuki Risa [estimated reading] can be found here. (Archive link here.)
Continue readingThis book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.
Some paragraph breaks have been added for ease of reading in English.
Continue readingThis book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.
I have collected many archival images from various sources to illustrate the book.
Continue readingThis fun interview about OG Nanami Hiroki’s favorite fruit was published for Japan’s ‘Mandarin Orange’ day (one of two, even!) on December 3, 2020. The original article was written by Ayaji Nobuko [approximate reading] for Domani—click through for many photos of Nanami! (Archive link here.)
Continue readingThis interview with Sagiri Seina, former Top Star of Snow Troupe, was published by Oricon on October 5th. (Archive link here.) The original article was written by Uehara Kahori, and there are many pictures on the original website, so please click through!
Continue readingMonkey Punch, the manga artist who originally created the Lupin III franchise, passed away on April 11, 2019, at the age of 81. Sagiri Seina was asked to make a statement. The original article was posted by Daily Sports Online on the 17th. (Archive link here.)
Continue readingThis article about Ryuu’s upcoming performance in the co-ed production of 1789 was published in Osaka Daily News on Feb 16, 2018 (source link has regrettably been mislaid).
Continue readingThis article about Sakihi Miyu’s acting debut in The Story of Koshiji Fubuki was published by Sanspo on Nvember 25th. The original article can be found here (along with several photos of Sakihi in costume). (Archive link here.)
Sakihi Miyu makes her acting debut playing her historic Takarazuka senior, Otowa Nobuko!
It was publicized on the 24th that Sakihi Miyu (26), former Top Musumeyaku of Takarazuka’s Snow Troupe who retired this July, will be making her debut as an actress in the Asahi mid-day drama The Story of Koshiji Fubuki (Mon-Fri 12:30pm airtime), which starts in January of next year.
In the drama, Takimoto Miori (26) plays the famous post-war star Koshiji Fubuki (died 1980, aged 56), a former Takarazuka Top Star1 and singer who was called ‘the Queen of Chanson’, in the story of her life. Koshiji performed as an otokoyaku Top Star in her time in Takarazuka, and after retirement recorded many hit songs, such as ‘Hymne a l’Amour’.
Ms. Sakihi plays Koshiji’s Takarazuka classmate Otowa Nobuko (died 1994, aged 70), who became a famous actress after retirement. As Ms. Sakihi is making her acting debut playing her historic senior, who also performed as Top Musumeyaku in Snow Troupe, she is unusually motivated. Her acting skills have been highly praised since her time in Takarazuka, so she stands out as a performer.
In the storyline of the drama, Ms. Sakihi, who returns to her ‘old haunts’ to play her character from her time as a Takarazuka Music School student, says emotionally “everything’s new to me, but everyone helps me out and I am learning new things every day.” Regarding the responsibility of playing the famous actress Otowa Nobuko, she says “as I watched various materials of hers I started thinking that she was a really alluring person. I’m also explaining to Ms. Takimoto, in my own way, how precious the relationships between otokoyaku and musumeyaku are.” As she has the most personal experience, she is advising Ms. Takimoto, the lead, about Takarazuka.
“I am aiming to become an actress like a Jack-in-the-box, someone who will make people think ‘she’s such an interesting person’,” she says about her future ambitions. As she uses her great talents from Takarazuka to brighten this drama, she is rapidly climbing the stairway to stardom as an actress.
1 – While the article uses the Top Star/Top Musumeyaku terms, and Koshiji and Otowa were leading performers, the terminology is not historically accurate as the Top Star system dates to the 1970s. However, Japanese sources often use this terminology for older stars for ease of comprehension.