{"id":2505,"date":"2022-12-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/?p=2505"},"modified":"2022-11-13T05:47:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T12:47:02","slug":"berubara-and-i-anna-jun-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/02\/berubara-and-i-anna-jun-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Berubara and I – Anna Jun (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This book, which is something of an \u2018oral history\u2019 of Takarazuka\u2019s Rose of Versailles<\/em> adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. Since the book is derived from transcriptions of interviews taking place often many decades after the fact, there may be discrepancies between accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that the term appearing through the text as \u2018theatre-comic\u2019 is translated from the Japanese term gekiga <\/em>[\u5287\u753b]. Although this term is described as applying to mainly male-oriented comics in most English-language sources, this not accurate. The definition of this word changed to also include sweeping, romantic female-oriented works with Rose of Versailles being arguably the most famous of theatre-comics. Takarazuka even published its own magazine of theatre-comics in the 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapters have been split in two to make them more readable without too much scrolling to reach the explanatory footnotes. Some paragraph breaks have also been added for ease of reading in English. I have also included some images printed in the book as well as sourcing many other archival images to illustrate the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installments will be posted every two weeks, with some breaks if the next chapter is not complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Incident-filled regional performances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, Berubara was touring every tiny corner of the country, and it was on such a horribly demanding schedule. The opening performance was in Sendai, and I\u2019ll never forget that for the rest of my life. I\u2019m sure it was in some big theatre in the middle of Sendai, but the real reason I won\u2019t forget that day is because I collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On opening day, they handed out the schedule for the rest of the regional tour, but it was so long I felt like I was unrolling a scroll. The moment I saw it all the blood drained from my head and I passed out. It was too long, with too many shows, and when I thought of how tough it was going to be I felt faint\u2026 Someone brought me brandy to drink\u2026as a restorative, of course (laughs), and then I came back to my senses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing about the regional performances was all the funny \u2018incidents\u2019 that would happen. Once we performed Berubara in a gymnasium: I think this was in Muroran, in Hokkaido. And the ceiling of this gym was made out of transparent glass, so you could see the sky and the sunlight would shine through. And we were doing day and night shows there.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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A regional production program (La Rose de Versailles Souvenir Photobook 1)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

First was the daytime show. After Andre and I finished singing \u201cLove, Love, Love~\u201d the scene ended, the lights went out and next was the battle scene. So the two of us would rush from center stage to stage left and stage right [respectively] in order to change into our uniforms. Normally, since this was a \u2018blackout\u2019 you would expect it to be dark, but\u2026the sunlight kept pouring through the glass ceiling, leaving everything bright! So we were in broad daylight and the whole audience could watch us sing \u201cLove, love, love~\u201d and then run off to change!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our side we were just trying our best, but that must have been weird, right~. I\u2019m sure the audience watching thought it was funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there was the night show. The \u201cnoonday sunlight\u201d was gone now, but this time there was another incredible event. It was during the scene where Oscar falls after saying \u201cVive la France!\u201d and then there\u2019s some tinkling music and she\u2019s called up to heaven. Andre\u2019s voice calls \u201cOscar, Oscar, Oscar~!\u201d, it\u2019s such a nice scene. And then, I\u2019m supposed to raise my head suddenly when he calls \u201cOscar!\u201d the third time, turn around once, and start singing \u201cLove~\u201d, but\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I heard \u201cOscar\u201d the third time, but a split second before I was going to raise my head, what happened? The public address system came on! \u201cMano Yuriko-san, Mano Yuriko-san, your mother is waiting for you outside,\u201d a man\u2019s voice echoed over the speakers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMano Yuriko-san!\u201d \u201cOscar!\u201d \u201cMano Yuriko-san!\u201d \u201cOscar!\u201d \u2026and then I raised my head, that\u2019s how it ended up. (laughs) Gosh, he kept saying \u201cYour mother is waiting for you\u201d for ages. \u2018Cut it oooout,\u2019 I thought, but there wasn\u2019t anything I could do. Our beautiful scene was interrupted by this unforseen incident. Mano Yuriko-san, I haven\u2019t forgotten your name for 30 years (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were performing in that gym for three days, and the troubles just kept coming; the next day it was the emergency alarm. In the middle of the performance, an extremely piercing emergency bell went off. \u201cHuh? What\u2019s going on!?\u201d we thought. We were acting, but of course we stopped. What if there was a fire?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was so startled that I don\u2019t even remember what scene we were in the middle of, but after that, a male voice announced \u201cThe bell just now was a false alarm!\u201d The audience had been in an uproar as well, and the announcement went on \u201cThe bell just now was a false alarm, so everyone, please\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s unthinkable now, but that\u2019s the sort of thing that happened back then when we were in gyms. Back then, we used to perform in gyms and other places like that a lot, and at those times there wasn\u2019t a dressing room-type space, so we\u2019d be allowed to use school staff rooms or corridors and put together our own dressing rooms. We\u2019d have light from incandescent bulbs, and back then, all our things would be in a single wicker trunk, so we\u2019d set our wicker trunks on the floor and sit on our well-worn cushions and all do our makeup. We felt like wandering performers (laughs). So I would transform into Oscar in a place like that, but the moment I stepped out I was in the world of dreams\u2026it\u2019s marvelous, thinking about it that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was the complete opposite of Oscar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was just incredible how much of an audience we had. It was like they were descending on us in hordes, everyone had \u201cBerubara Fever\u201d! No matter where we went in the whole country everyone\u2019s feverishness was incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were times I couldn\u2019t even go out the dressing room door due to the aggressive fans. We were going by bus to the next location, so I had to leave the dressing room to get on the bus, but there was such a huge throng of people crowded around the bus that I couldn’t get near it. Because of this, Haruna-san and I ended up having to wrap our heads in scarves, borrow rubber boots, and carry brooms and dustpans to disguise ourselves as cleaning ladies, or borrow hammers from the set staff; once we even dressed up as ninjas to get on that bus (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Anna offstage (GRAPH, August 1976)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

And once, there was such an uproar after the bus left and they realized we\u2019d gotten away that the crowd attacked our PR manager, a young man called Kobayashi-kun, and left him with fractures\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with this fanaticism, I felt more terror than happiness. At this point, we had started staying in business hotels. Below the hotel windows there would be lots of girls shouting \u201cMademoiselle Oscar!\u201d and once one even tried to get into my room. I heard someone knocking on the door and assumed it was another Takarazuka performer, so I called \u201cYe~s!\u201d and opened it, but a girl I didn\u2019t recognize at all was standing there. I panicked and tried to close the door but she put her foot in the way and there was a huge uproar. I really felt like I was in danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My true feelings, personally, were that \u201cI want this performance to be over as soon as possible.\u201d To be honest\u2026acting wasn\u2019t really my favorite thing (laughs). And if you\u2019re doing the same play for month after month, naturally you\u2019d get tired of it . Berubara especially lasted from spring until autumn, and \u201cI wish I would play this role forever\u201d was never one of my dreams (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, because of that long performance, people in distant areas who had never seen Takarazuka before were able to see it, but I just thought \u201cI want to go back. I want to go home.\u201d\u2026 (bitter laugh) I paid for this later, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really had way too little ambition. For example, after the curtain call, the curtain comes down, right? And for just a little bit the audience can see through the gap under the curtain. But even so, during that \u2018just a little bit\u2019, whoosh, I\u2019d be gone. I kept getting told \u201cPlease wait until the curtain comes all the way down.\u201d (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was how quickly I could get away from it, and I was the type to make a sharp distinction between on and off stage, so I never brought any of those onstage feelings with me when I exited: when it was over it was over! When I left the dressing room I brushed everything off, so it was very clear in that way. I think there are a lot of people who plunge deeply into the roles they play, but in my case, even during turbulent performances I was having lots of fun in my private life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, anyway, romance doesn\u2019t fill the stomach, you know? Me and seven or eight of my girl friends would go to Kyoto or Kobe and eat shabu-shabu, then ramen, then kudzu starch noodles for dessert, stopping by three or four restaurants in a row for our huge banquet before going home. Back then I\u2019d eat so much, though if I did the same today I\u2019d turn into a pig!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we were all split up into different cars to get to Kobe. I was driving my Mini Cooper in front, and we were just going down Mt. Rokko, driving down a sloping road with nothing but golf courses. And then suddenly someone popped out waving a red flag. It was a speed trap! And we were way over the limit\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So all of us flashy looking Berubara performers got out of our cars and everyone said \u201cWe\u2019re so sorry~!\u201d, but of course, it looked like we were about to get speeding tickets, so without thinking, I went and said\u2026 \u201cWe\u2019re in Berubara right now\u2026so if we get you tickets will you let us off?\u201d (laughs) Of course they didn\u2019t let us off. My bribery tactic was a tragic failure! (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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A portrait of Anna by longtime Takarazuka artist Ashizawa Jin (GRAPH, September 1976)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As you can see, once I stepped off stage I was Tomioka Miki. But the fans thought of me, myself, as Oscar. And at the time there was a huge gap between those thoughts and what I was. So I kept thinking, what is it that makes the fans so fanatical?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, in Takarazuka up until then, when the curtains opened we would call it \u201cthe nursing conference\u201d. That was because the seats would be white, since nobody was in them. But after Berubara, Takarazuka\u2019s popularity made such a comeback that you could hardly get tickets. It was really all thanks to Berubara\u2019s cultural impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason why so many people who had never watched Takarazuka before came to see us was because of how incredible Ikeda Riyoko-san\u2019s original work was. You could say that Takarazuka hitched a ride on that. I\u2019m the same age as Ikeda-san, but I wish I had her talent, and even now I really respect her. I feel so strongly that it\u2019s a great thing for me to have been able to appear in Berubara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People often say \u201cOscar is the perfect role for Anna-san,\u201d but really, Oscar and I are internally complete opposites!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She (Oscar) burned with a desire for justice and fought to protect her country, so if anything, she\u2019s someone like Joan of Arc. She possessed such an incredible sense of justice that she even threw away her own womanhood. But then I have a rather reserved personality, and I don\u2019t have that sense of justice at all (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet I was given this role even so, and I\u2019m so glad. Oscar is something I\u2019ll remember all my life, and one of my treasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Berubara Q&A – Anna Jun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – If I say \u2018Takarazuka\u2019, what do you think of?
<\/em>A – Otokoyaku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – If I say \u2018Berubara\u2019?
<\/em>A – Anna Jun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – What message would you currently want to give Oscar?
<\/em>A – Your life was swept up in the whirlpool of the French Revolution. I think that was a really wonderful thing. If you had lived in the modern day, I think it would have made you so angry you would have gone mad with rage and died. So I\u2019m glad you lived back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – What message would you currently want to give Andre?
<\/em>A – It\u2019s nice to think of just one person constantly, but wouldn\u2019t having some more experiences with other girls have been nice too? (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – What message would you currently want to give Fersen?
<\/em>A – I think being unable to save Marie Antoinette was a huge regret for you, so that\u2019s a real shame. Your life would have changed so much if only you had been able to save her, it\u2019s such a pity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – If you could request one thing from Takarazuka, what would it be?
<\/em>A – There\u2019s no days off, are there. You should give the performers a bit more time off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – If you were reborn, would you join Takarazuka again?
<\/em>A – Looking back on things after enough years have passed since my experiences that I can look at them objectively, I\u2019ve thought a lot \u201cI wish I\u2019d done this or that back then,\u201d so I\u2019d like to try it all over again. As an otokoyaku, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extra questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – What otokoyaku characters have you fallen for as a woman?
<\/em>A – Xiang Yu from Gu the Beautiful<\/em>. And then, Oda Nobunaga. I love them both. I had a lot of princely roles, so I liked rough, manly men. Though I don\u2019t suit them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – What role(s) would you like to perform again?
<\/em>Ooama-no-Miko from Love Blooms Out on the Murasakino<\/em>. I loved the show itself, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q – What are your memories of the Silver Bridge?
<\/em>If there was someone I knew in the audience, my habit was to signal \u201clet\u2019s go out to eat later!\u201d from the Silver Bridge. I was really bold about it too. It\u2019s definitely something I wouldn\u2019t have been forgiven for, but it seems I was never caught at it (laughs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This book, which is something of an \u2018oral history\u2019 of Takarazuka\u2019s Rose of Versailles adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. … 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":[30,26],"tags":[255,394,395,495],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505"}],"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=2505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2509,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505\/revisions\/2509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}