{"id":1703,"date":"2021-07-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2021-07-18T03:45:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-18T09:45:24","slug":"sena-jun-words-for-the-day-chapter-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/23\/sena-jun-words-for-the-day-chapter-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Sena Jun – Words for the Day: Chapters 4 and 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This photo and essay book was written by Moon Troupe Top Star Sena Jun and published during promotions for the 2008 show ME AND MY GIRL<\/em>, where Top Musumeyaku Ayano Kanami retired. It\u2019s very charming and occasionally emotional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some chapters are very short, or contain only pictures, and thus are combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book also featured dual Japanese and English chapter titles, which were not always the same. Where these differ, both are included, with the translation of the Japanese title following in brackets. (For example, Chapter 8 is That time [The era of Asa and Osako]<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

004. School days [Middle school and high school]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The middle and high school I went to was really strict about its rules,
(although apparently not so much now)
And to be honest, I didn\u2019t like it.
Your bangs had to end above your eyebrows.
If your hair came down to your shoulders, you had to wear it in pigtails.
And if those were long, you had to braid them.
Skirt hems could only go 10cm below the knee.
People with naturally brown hair had to submit a \u2018Proof of Red Hair\u2019 form1<\/sup>.
Sweaters and cardigans could only be worn from X Month to Y Month.
(No matter how cold it got!!)
Et cetera, et cetera\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, because of that, the fun memories with my friends are even more intense.
We did so much dumb stuff.
We shared all the fun things, the bad things, the frustrating things.
Though now most of those friends have become housewives,
They still support me, just like before.
Thank you so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, my old school,
Was unusual at that time in that it had 2 days off during the week.
I was busy with ballet, so this was the one school rule I loved!
Since Sunday was totally taken up with ballet classes, I could play with my friends on Saturday.
(Although that day was actually intended to be a personal study day.)
But once or twice a month I would have a date with my grandfather on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My grandpa was a really fashionable gentleman,
And quite the romanticist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s some stories about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the war, Grandpa was a ship\u2019s captain in the navy.
He always kept a perfume bottle in his left breast pocket.
\u201cIf I was shot in the heart, the bottle would shatter and sprinkle the perfume on me, and I\u2019d be surrounded in a scent beautiful enough to die, right? And if I was shot somewhere else, I could sprinkle the perfume myself, right?\u201d
Grandpa was so wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My grandpa really loved my grandma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Grandpa\u2019s ship ran aground,
He swam for hours in the Pacific Ocean.
In the middle of a terrible storm, sometimes he would be forced to the ocean floor, and then suddenly thrown to the surface again\u2026he was sure he was going to die.
And then, as his face broke through the surface of the water,
Along with the Southern Cross, he saw the face of his \u2018beloved Ayako-chan2<\/sup>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to live and make it home to propose to Ayako-chan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That love came true, and that\u2019s how I exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than anyone else, Grandpa hoped for me to become a Takarasienne.
He passed away suddenly, just before I decided to take the entrance exam, but I feel that he\u2019s always watching over me from somewhere.
Grandpa\u2019s beloved Ayako-chan is still full of energy,
And sends me text messages whenever she\u2019s watching Takarazuka Sky Stage <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(end)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

1 – It is still common practice<\/a> for Japanese schools to require black hair or proof of a student’s natural hair color, although recently the standard has begun to face challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 – Estimated reading based on the kanji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

005. With the ballet [My first encounter with ballet]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can still remember it all vividly.
One evening as we were heading back from kindergarten,
My mother took me through the gate of a huge house.
(Though thinking about it now it wasn\u2019t all that big.)
The moment we stepped through the door,
it felt like I was in a new, sepia-toned world.
The walls were lined with mirrors, and above them the setting sun shone through the windows.
Girls around the same age as me were lined up at the barre,
All with their hair up and wearing cute pastel-colored clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mom: \u2018Aren\u2019t their clothes cute?\u2019
Me: \u2018Yeah\u00a0\u2728\u2019
Mom: \u2018The shoes are cute, too.\u2019
Me: \u2018Yeah\u00a0\u2728\u2019
Mom: \u2018Doesn\u2019t it look fun?\u2019
Me: \u2018Yeah\u00a0\u2728\u2019
Mom: \u2018Do you want to try it?\u2019
Me: \u2018Yeah!!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So basically I was led into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mom, thank you for leading me on.
Thanks to that, I became a girl who loved ballet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(end)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This photo and essay book was written by Moon Troupe Top Star Sena Jun and published during promotions for the 2008 show ME AND MY GIRL, where Top Musumeyaku Ayano Kanami retired. It\u2019s very charming and occasionally emotional. Some chapters … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[255,392,354,17],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1887,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions\/1887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}