Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing\/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a table of contents with links to all the chapters,\u00a0go here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Dear My Family<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mori Keaki will soon be bidding farewell to Takarazuka, but\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n How and why did I end up here, in the first place!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, since I have this chance, I would like to look back clearly on my life before Takarazuka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During my career, at various different interviews, a normal question to hear was \u2018What was your motivation to take the Takarazuka entrance exam?\u2019, or, \u2018When you were a child, did you have the dream of being on TV or on stage?\u2019 and that sort of thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a normal interview, the time I have to answer the questions is short, and then it will be edited down to only about 2 lines for publication\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now, this time I can take as much time to talk about it as I please!! You see. Hahaha\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ah\u2026earlier, I mentioned it just briefly, but, I was born in Sendai as the second daughter to a policeman father, and a very typical housewife mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had one older sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, due to a family situation, I was raised from age 2 to age 8 at my grandmother\u2019s house, in Kogawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know that\u2019s rather sudden to bring up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actually, my grandmother\u2019s household had no successor, so, to explain briefly, I was like her foster daughter, and I lived at my grandmother\u2019s house until my second year of primary school. (Although, honestly, I just did as I pleased a lot of the time. Haha!!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I became very close with my grandmother over that time, so it\u2019s not at aaaaaall like any of those tearjerker stories you\u2019ve seen in old shojo manga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, in other words, even though I was a second child, for a while, my life was just as if I was an only child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what I wanted to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, after a while, luckily, my grandmother found another heir for her household, and I returned to my father and mother, but\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I think now, if I had remained in my grandmother\u2019s house like that,<\/p>\n\n\n\n I realize:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Oh\u2026 The \u2018me\u2019 now wouldn\u2019t exist\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is another,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of life\u2019s \u2018turning points\u2019\u2026I guess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ah, sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got a bit caught up in my thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll go back to the story now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I returned to Sendai, but I had been raised as an only child,<\/p>\n\n\n\n And at that, by my grandmother!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And on the other hand, my older sister had been like an only child herself for a long time while I was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when suddenly \u2018your little sister is back!!\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be only natural at the time for my older sister to have thought \u2018Why!?\u2019 and been very upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, but, however\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for me, since I had been away from my parents for so long, of course I would want to get back all the affection I had missed out on all at once, right!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So due to all that, for a bit, me and my sister were in a bit of a struggle (!?) over our parents\u2019 affections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, despite all that we were sisters!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This \u2018relation\u2019 thing is really something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\u2019t accept or deny a blood relationship, it just is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Probably you understand how this sort of thing is\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case, since we had both experienced being \u2018only children\u2019 for such a long time, did we have many leftover effects of that, and address each other as \u2018you\u2019\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nooope\u2026 Even now I think rather than older and younger sister, our relationship is even closer, more like \u2018best friends forever\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actually, my older sister has a big role in me taking the Takarazuka entrance exam. But I\u2019ll write more on that a little later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, I have an announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I respect my dad!! I love my dad!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you think of a policeman, do you have the image of somebody really brusque and stubborn? Something like a man who would relentlessly scold and yell at even his own daughter if she did something wrong\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe that\u2019s the fault of movies and TV dramas and men\u2019s comic books\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I suppose it\u2019s possible that there are some people like that out of all the multitudes of policemen there are in all of Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case, what I\u2019m trying to say that people come in all different types, and there are all different kinds of fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then, there\u2019s my dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of his work, he\u2019s a very diligent person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, it\u2019s not as if he\u2019s a totally strict and rigid individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surprisingly, he originally wanted to be a rakugo performer!! According to what I\u2019ve heard, at events like police banquets he would sing and dance\u2026he was an amazing performer, it seems. (I never observed this in person, but I hope you will take it as the truth\u2026he retired from the police due to his age, so there aren\u2019t any opportunities to see this for myself now\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, he\u2019s so\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unique, and fun, and warm, and most of all, kind!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now I\u2019m thinking \u2018It\u2019s probably wrong to boast about your own father so much.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n The foundation of the ideal man that Mori Keaki performed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was probably my father\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve only now started to think that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hm\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n My dad\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n He still calls me \u2018Little Miko\u2019 even now. Since my real name is \u2018Kumiko\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he would diligently come to see all my performances in Takarazuka, and make sure to tell me what he thought about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, during The 47 Ronin – Fall with the Flowers, Fall with the Snow<\/em>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that show, there is a scene where, in order to trick Lord Kira and his people, Oishi Kuranosuke is spending his days in debauchery in Shumokumachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, when my dad saw that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said \u2018You looked like you were having so much fun fooling around with those geisha\u2026 Good going!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe~y, wait a second. Are you thinking of me as your son now!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, actually, my dad\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n When he sees me performing on stage, apparently he gets under the impression that I actually am a man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of that, recently he\u2019s been strangely happy and saying things like \u2018my daughter is about to come back\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, while my father was so straightforward and open-hearted and understanding with his daughter, when I hear my friends or acquaintances talking, there seem to be a lot of people who say \u2018My mother, well\u2026she just doesn\u2019t talk to my father much\u2026;\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuh\u2026 So is that what it\u2019s usually like\u2026 Maybe my house was a little out of the ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I started to think that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I should talk about my mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She is a PERFECT housewife!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything to do with running the house is totally perfect!! Although it might be considered \u2018women\u2019s work\u2019, there\u2019s nothing she can\u2019t do\u2026 She\u2019s such an amazing person to me!! (This is a secret, but at times I\u2019ve wished I had her for a wife)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hmm, so, the daughter of this father and mother, the second girl in this family, \u2018Little Miko\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n What kind of child was she!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time to investigate \u2018Mori Keaki\u2019s roots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or something\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, let\u2019s move on, so I don\u2019t set up too much at the start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing\/formatting style is kind of … Continue reading