Flowers Blooming, Dreams Blooming #11 – Aran Kei (Dec 2007 GRAPH)

Ashizawa Jin is an illustrator/columnist who seems to have worked for GRAPH since the 1960s (yes, you read that right). His interview column gets a new title every year but usually the format is fairly similar. The 2007 column was called Flowers Blooming, Dreams Blooming, and this interview with Aran Kei was published in the December issue.

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Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 13 – “Looking at my foundations in Korea”

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 have been added for ease of reading in English. I have also collected many archival images from various sources to illustrate the book.

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days – Aizuki Hikaru (August 2017)

days was a photo feature in GRAPH where performers created a journal or blog-style timeline of photos with captions. Aizuki’s, recorded while she was still a Cosmos Troupe member features the end of Chateau de la Reine through the start of rehearsals for A Motion.

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Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 12 – “Ability conquers luck”

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 have been added for ease of reading in English. I have also collected many archival images from various sources to illustrate the book.

Continue reading

Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 11 – Trusting in “the power of entertainment”

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 have been added for ease of reading in English. I have also collected many archival images from various sources to illustrate the book.

Continue reading

Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 10 – My precious, precious family

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 have been added for ease of reading in English. I have also collected many archival images from various sources to illustrate the book.

Continue reading

Aran Kei – Aran: Message from Ninagawa Yukio

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 have been added to make it more readable in English. I have also collected archival images from many sources.

Continue reading

Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 9 – A happy “normal life”; but in the end still an otokoyaku once in a while?

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.

Paragraph breaks have been added to make it more readable in English.

Continue reading

Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 8 – A new start as a “woman”

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.

Paragraph breaks have been added to make it more readable in English.

Continue reading