GRAPH Farewell Talk: Asami Hikaru and Aran Kei

This talk between Asami Hikaru and her classmate Aran Kei was published in Asami’s final GRAPH issue, published in December 2006.

Some outtake photos from the back of the magazine are included.

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Aran Kei – Aran: Message from Asami Hikaru

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 for ease of reading in English.

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“Rush! Fresh!! Push!!!” – Shizuki Asato and Asami Hikaru with Yumeki Noa

This talk from the January 1998 Kageki pre-dates the creation of Cosmos Troupe, and features 3 of its future members discussing those prospects.

(Well, in theory, but they quickly get off-topic…)

This feature was translated from Shizuki’s memorial book anthology, but seems to be unabridged.

“Rush! Fresh!! Push!!!” Shizuki Asato and Asami Hikaru with Yumeki Noa

Shizuki: Komu-chan (Asami), you were in Flower Troupe with me for three years, right?

Asami: That’s right.

Yumeki: When I was a ken-1, I was in Flower Troupe for a year because of troupe rotations.

Shizuki: What, really?

Asami: So we were actually in the same troupe together… But there’s still tons of things I don’t know about Zunko-san…

Shizuki: Ask me whatever you like!

Asami: Is it okay even if it’s something serious?

Shizuki: Sure, go ahead.

Asami: Is there something you’re good at cooking?

Shizuki: What’s serious about that! [laughs] I’m pretty good at gooking anything. If somebody says ‘cook this’ I can make anything, but if I don’t have to I won’t cook. I’m best at stuff like curry, stew, and beef stroganoff.

Yumeki: Let’s flip that around, is there something you’d like people to make for you?

Shizuki: Rice! [laughs]

Yumeki: If that’s it I can probably manage.

Shizuki: I’ll be content with just warm rice and miso soup. If anyone would like to cook for me, I’m hiring~!

Asami: If you say stuff like that you’ll get mobbed! [laughs]

Shizuki: Actually, I love eating breakfast. As soon as I get up I can eat steak or anything.

Yumeki: Me too! Cake or whatever is OK!

Asami: Whaaaat!?

Shizuki: When I go to bed at night, I fall asleep looking forward to what I’ll eat for breakfast.

Asami: I don’t get hungry at all until midday. So I don’t believe you.

Yumeki: I like having a bit of a drink before bed; what about you, Zunko-san?

Shizuki: I do too! There’s always gin and such in my fridge.

Yumeki: Same here!

Asami: Are you particular about glassware?

Shizuki: I’m ridiculously fussy about it! But all my nice crystal, like Baccarat, shattered in an earthquake…

Asami: I can see you in a dressing gown with your legs crossed, holding a Baccarat glass…and of course with the lights dimmed…

Shizuki: [laughs] I do like a dark room.

Yumeki: Me too!

Shizuki: We really think alike.

Yumeki: I like scented candles, so I’ll light some and then drink with the lights off.

Shizuki: Same here! We should move in together!

Yumeki: I-if this gets printed I’m in for it! [laughs]

Shizuki: I don’t like bright rooms. So my room is full of ennui.

Asami: So cool! I’m the opposite. If it’s not nice and bright I feel weird. I couldn’t live with Zunko-san…

Shizuki: Bummer…

Asami: You don’t look disappointed at all!

Shizuki, Yumeki: [laughs]

Yumeki: Your room must be nice and neat.

Shizuki: I’m a person who loves cleaning.

Asami: You can cook and clean too! You’d make a great wife!

Shizuki: Actually, I’ve recently decided to reject marriage. [laughs] I like living alone too much, you know?

Asami: That’s right.

Yumeki: When I was in grade school, I wrote an essay in Home Economics about how I would never ever get married, and the teacher got really mad at me.

Shizuki, Asami: [laughs]

Shizuki: You should do what you like, and live how you want.

Asami: At the end I’d like to ask one actually serious question. Now that a new troupe is finally being created, what kind of troupe do you want to make it into?

Shizuki: I want it to be a troupe where it’s as if all kind of things were put in a box to freely mix together. I want to avoid unnecessary separations between junior and senior actresses as much as possible, so that there’s an environment where anyone can mutually discuss anything. At this point, nothing’s really fixed about the new troupe, so I want us to all work together bit by bit to create it.

Asami: Hearing you say things like that makes me really excited, Zunko-san.

Yumeki: I’m really happy.

Shizuki: I’m sure it’ll be hard to start from square one, but I want to “open the door”.

Asami: And then we…

Yumeki: Can leap through it!