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, go here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m going home!\u201d \u2026Hey, wait a moment\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t fit right into that \u2018Ta-dah! Congratulations on your entrance into the Takarazuka Music School!\u2019 pattern\u2026 you see\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I can say this, I ended up messing up in a way that was just like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When my sister said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s there!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I responded,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh~ I passed!! I did it!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next thing a normal student would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would be to phone their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also did that very normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the pay phone at the Hankyu Travel Hostel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMama! Papa! I passed!! I\u2019m satisfied now, so I\u2019m going to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uh\u2026wait\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you people who are familiar with Takarazuka fall over in surprise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can\u2019t just go home~!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My sister really did fall over\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the Takarazuka Music School,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately following the results presentation, in the same building, they hold an orientation for the girls who pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parents who accompanied them also gather in the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCongratulations. In the coming year, you will begin your journey as the Takarazuka Music School\u2019s newest class of Lower Students. Therefore\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So there was still another event waiting for me – \u201cThe real thing is yet to come!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to go home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My sister was flustered,<\/p>\n\n\n\n But on the other side of the phone, my parents in Sendai, although due to the distance they were a bit calmer, also seemed a bit startled (well, obviously!!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n My mother shouted at me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat are you saying!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou passed, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. But that doesn\u2019t matter~ I\u2019m happy with just passing, so I\u2019m going to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even I don\u2019t like this side of my personality!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d you might ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To tell the truth,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although I was happy to have passed, I hadn\u2019t known a single thing about the world of Takarazuka before then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But over the course of the exam, I had picked things up from the other students taking the exam: \u2018hierarchical relationships\u2019 \u2018such and such\u2019 \u2018so and so\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So now that I had come this far,<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ended up feeling really scared!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n How pathetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, Mori Keaki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like I wrote before, my personality swings from extreme to extreme, and right now a huge closeup of my \u2018coward\u2019 side had taken over my internal cinema screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Little by little, my heart had become calmer\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n My mother said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLittle Miko, since you went to all this trouble to actually pass, you need to do your best! Papa and Mama will be supporting you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026. Really. Yeah. Yeah. I\u2019ll do my best!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What an odd exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so it sunk in \u2018I see. I can\u2019t go back now\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I bit back my nervousness and tried to gather up some courage, but, I ended up having my sister lead me into the orientation by the hand, like some kind of weirdo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From that day on,<\/p>\n\n\n\n My period of \u2018culture shock\u2019 started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My knowledge of the world of Takarazuka was honestly totally nonexistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t know anything about how strict the traditional hierarchical relationship was between the Lower Students and Upper Students in the Takarazuka Music School\u2026 (Lower Students are those who have just entered. Upper Students are those in their second year. The Takarazuka Music School is only a two-year school, so there are only Lower and Upper Students. After those two years, they enter the Takarazuka Revue, and in their first year, they are called First Year Graduate Students. This is abbreviated to Ken-1.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere did you come from?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Upper Student asked me at the reception desk of the orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom Sendai.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, that\u2019s in Iwate Prefecture, right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, it isn\u2019t!! It\u2019s in Miyagi Prefecture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s all the same, isn\u2019t it? They\u2019re both in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFine. Go in and take your seat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I replied without much conviction, and entered the Takarazuka Music School\u2019s lecture hall with my sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat was that!? Why was that person acting so high and mighty\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suppose I must have thought that a little bit, but.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before I could realize that \u2018that person\u2019 was \u2018an Upper Student\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCongratulations on passing the entrance exam!! All of you sitting here now were the chosen ones, with an acceptance rate of 1 in 21\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ended up totally focused on the principal\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I totally forgot about telling my mother I was going to go home, and thought,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m in Takarazuka now,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And ended up extremely emotional (just like me\u2026).<\/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