Takarazuka Revue

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"Parisette" 1930

The Takarazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団 Takarazuka Kagekidan) is a Japanese all-female musical theater in the city of Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play both male and female roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions — most of their plays are Western-style musicals, and sometimes they are stories adapted from shōjo manga and folktales of China and Japan. Their fans are mostly female. Legally, this theatrical company is a division of Hankyu Railway Co. and actresses are employees of the company.

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[edit] History

The first performance "Donburako",1914

The Takarazuka Revue began in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan in 1913 founded by Ichizo Kobayashi, an industrialist and politician who was the president of Hankyu Railways. The city of Takarazuka was already a popular tourist destination for its hot springs and the city was the terminus of a Hankyu line from Osaka. Kobayashi believed that it was the ideal spot to open up an attraction of some kind that would boost train ticket sales and draw more business for the city of Takarazuka. The name of the troupe comes from the Hankyu Takarazuka Line in suburban Osaka. Kobayashi considered the Kabuki theater to be very old and elitist.[1] Since Western song and dance shows were getting more popular, Kobayashi thought that an all female theater group might be well received by the general public. In a country where public kissing was frowned upon, the fact that such scenes were implied rather than acted out and that both actors were unmarried women, made such scenes acceptable to the general public. The Revue had its first performance in 1914. By 1924, the company had become popular enough to get its own theater called the Dai Gekijō meaning “Grand Theater” in Takarazuka.[2] Currently Takarazuka performs for 2.5 million people per year.[citation needed] The majority of the fans are women. (see Audience of Takarazuka) The modern Takarazuka Theater in Tokyo is an elegant showplace.

Part of the novelty of Takarazuka is that all the parts are played by women, based on the original model of Kabuki before women were banned from the theatre in Japan. The women who play male parts are referred to as otokoyaku (literally "male role") and those who play female parts are called musumeyaku (literally "daughter's role"). The costume, set designs and lighting are lavish, and the performances are melodramatic. Side pathways extend the already wide proscenium, accommodating elaborate processions and choreography.

Regardless of the historic era of the musical presented, period costume accuracy is relaxed for extravagant finales which include a Rockette-style kick line and scores of glittering performers parading down an enormous stage-wide staircase. Lead performers portraying both male and female roles appear in the finale wearing huge circular feathered back-pieces reminiscent of Paris or Las Vegas costuming.

Before becoming a member of the troupe, a young woman must train for two years in the Takarazuka Music School, one of the most competitive of its kind in the world. Each year, thousands from all over Japan audition and between 40 and 50 are accepted. They are trained in music, dance, and acting, and are guaranteed seven-year contracts. The school is famous for its strict discipline and for the custom of having first-year students clean the premises each morning.

The first year, all women are trained together, but at the end of the first year, women are divided by the faculty and the current troupe members into otokoyaku and musumeyaku. Those playing otokoyaku take on a more masculine role in the classroom, cut their hair short, and speak in the masculine form from then on.

The company has five main troupes: Hana, Tsuki, Yuki, Hoshi, and Sora (Flower, Moon, Snow, Star, and Cosmos), and Senka (Superior Members), a collection for senior actresses who are no longer part of the regular troupes yet still wish to maintain their association with the revue and perform from time to time. Flower and Moon are the original troupes, founded in 1921. Snow Troupe began in 1924. Star Troupe was founded in 1931, disbanded in 1939, and reestablished in 1948. The newest troupe, Cosmos, was founded in 1998.

[edit] Actors of Takarazuka

A musumeyaku is flanked by two otokoyaku, circa 1935.

While on the surface it would appear that the Takarazuka Revue was primarily intended to grant Japanese women freedom from social oppression, ironically, it began as quite the opposite idea. “The production office and corporate structure that control Takarazuka are overwhelmingly patriarchal.”[3] Although Takarazuka embodies Shiraishi’s idea that the actresses become “good wives and wise mothers” upon leaving the company, it also simultaneously represents progressive feminist points of view. Some believe that its appeal to the female audience is because of the perceived link to freedom from traditional Japanese society’s imposed ideas of gender and sexuality. Women feel empowered in a society where they are restricted by gender-bound roles. So while Takarazuka “reinforces the status quo and sublimates women's desires through its dreamy narratives, there remains some possibility that certain spectators find it empowering simply to watch women play men.”[3]

The topic of androgyny: Takarasienne plays, like The Rose of Versailles and Elisabeth, explore the phenomena of androgynous characters. Ryoei and Chusei are two Japanese terms used to refer to androgyny. Chusei is used to mean “neutral” or “in between,” neither man nor woman, while ryosei referes to the combination of the sexes or genders.[4][page needed] “The otokoyaku's female following see her as a version of this kind of androgynous, safe beauty rarely found in real men.”[3] The otokoyaku represents the woman’s idealized man without the roughness or need to dominate, the “perfect” man who can not be found in the real world. It is the male-role that offers an escape from the strict, gender-bound roles that are idealized in Japanese society. In a sense, the otokoyaku provides the female audience with a “dream” of what they desire in reality.

In addition to their claim to “sell dreams,” the actresses of the Takarazuka Revue take on another role, which is to empower themselves as women in a male-dominated culture. Kobayashi's desire to make his actresses into good wives and mothers has often been hindered by their will to pursue careers in the entertainment business. It is becomingly increasingly more common for women to stay in the company well into their thirties and beyond the conventional limits of marriageable age. The actresses’ role within the Takarazuka Revue thus overlaps into the culture surrounding it, adding to their appeal to the female-dominant audience. “In fact, it is the carrying over of this "boyishness" into everyday life and the freedom that this implies that captures the attention of some fans.”[3] The male-role actress, however, is not bound to her assigned male role in the theater. Tsurugi Miyuki, top otokoyaku star of the Moon Troupe, as interviewed by Brau said that she conceived male impersonation as just a "role" that she wore like the makeup and costume that helped create her otokoyaku image and reverts to her nonperforming “feminine” self after performance.[3]

[edit] Note on male members

During the founding era of the company (1914) and in the post-WWII war era (1946), the company employed male performers who were trained separately from the female members of the troupes. Ultimately, however, the female members opposed their male counterparts, and the male departments were dissolved very soon after each incursion. The last males' department were terminated in 1954. A recent Japanese musical named Takarazuka Boys was based on this aspect of the company's history.

[edit] The troupes

The five troupes of the Takarazuka Revue have certain differences of style and material which make each troupe unique.

[edit] Flower Troupe (Hana)

The Flower Troupe is considered the "treasure chest" of otokoyaku. In 2003, 3 out of 5 of the top otokoyaku stars (Sumire Haruno of Flower, Hikaru Asami of Snow and Jun Shibuki of Moon) were from Flower Troupe. Their performances tend to have larger budgets, with lavish stage and costume designs, and are often derived from operatic material.

[edit] Moon Troupe (Tsuki)

While it tends to be a home for young performers (with Yūki Amami, who hadn't reached her seventh year, reaching the status of top star in the 1990s), the members of Moon Troupe are also strong singers. The term "Musical Research Department" is occasionally used in articles about the troupe, portraying the troupe's focus on music. Their material tends towards drama and modern musicals. During the era of Makoto Tsubasa as top star, they had at least two musicals adopted from classic western novels and overall tend to be more Western and dramatically styled on stage.

[edit] Snow Troupe (Yuki)

Snow Troupe is considered the upholder of traditional dance and opera for the whole company, being the vanguard of traditional Japanese drama in a company that tends towards Western material. They were the first troupe to perform Elisabeth in Japan. The troupe has been moving towards the opera and drama style that Moon and Flower perform in.

[edit] Star Troupe (Hoshi)

Star Troupe tends to be the home of the stars of Takarazuka. They, along with Flower Troupe, have very strong otokoyaku players.

[edit] Cosmos Troupe (Sora)

Cosmos, the newest troupe of the company, is less traditional and tends to be more experimental. When it was formed, it pulled talents from the different troupes of the time. The troupe's style is influenced by performers like Asato Shizuki, the founding otokoyaku top star; Yōka Wao and Mari Hanafusa, the "Golden Combi" who headed the troupe for six of its first eight years. Cosmos were the first troupe to perform Phantom, and to have a Broadway composer (Frank Wildhorn) write their musical score. Most of the otokoyaku in this troop are above 170 cm (the most notable is Hiro Yuumi, the tallest in the company since she joined in 1997)

[edit] Types of musicals performed by Takarazuka

[edit] Adaptations of Western Works

Takarazuka works are often adapted from Western classic musicals, operas, plays, novels or even films:

[edit] Adaptations of Japanese Works

Stories based in Japan and modeled on historical accounts or traditional tales, are often referred to as nihonmono (日本物 ?) or, less frequently, wamono (和物 ?). Among the most common Japanese stories adapted to the Takarazuka stage is The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 Genji Monogatari?).

Popular manga series have often shaped Takarazuka, such as in the case Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles. Other manga adaptations include The Window of Orpheus, also by Ikeda, Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack and Phoenix, and Yasuko Aoike's El Halcón.

Recent examples of works adapted from Japanese novels or short stories include Moon Troupe's Osaka Samurai (大阪侍 Oosakazamurai?), based upon the short story by Ryōtarō Shiba, and Flower Troupe's Black Lizard (黒蜥蜴 Kurotokage?), based upon the Kogoro Akechi story by Edogawa Rampo.

In 2009, Takarazuka Revue will perform an adaptation of Capcom's videogame series Phoenix Wright.[5]

Adaptations of Other Asian Works

Among works adapted from other Asian sources is the Beijing opera Farewell My Concubine, detailing the romance between General Xiang Yu and his lover Madam Yu.

Original Stories and Historical Adaptations

Musicals have also been performed throughout the years based upon people and events in American, European, and Asian history. Among the more recognizable of these biographical adaptations are Last Party: S. Fitzgerald's last day, about F. Scott Fitzgerald, Valentino, about Rudolph Valentino, and Dean, about James Dean.

Finally, original stories round out Takarazuka fare, including musicals such as Boxman by Cosmos Troupe and Silver Wolf performed by Moon and Snow Troupes.

Collaborations

Takarazuka has occasionally worked with notable writers, composers, and choreographers to create original content for the revue. In 1993, Tommy Tune wrote, directed and choreographed the revue Broadway Boys to accompany Moon Troupe's rendition of Grand Hotel. In 2006, Takarazuka worked with Frank Wildhorn, musical writer and composer, to create Never Say Goodbye for Cosmos Troupe.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Star personnel

The current top stars of each group are:

Group otokoyaku musumeyaku
Senka Yū Todoroki[1]
Flower Sei Matobu Ayane Sakurano
Moon Jun Sena N/A[2]
Snow Natsuki Mizu Yuri Shirahane[3]
Star Kei Aran Asuka Tōno
Cosmos Yūga Yamato Hana Hizuki

^  The youngest member to ever serve on the board of directors
^  Former top musumeyaku for Star Troupe, and the only musumeyaku in the current generation who has served as top of two different troupes.
^  Introduction interchangeable musumeyaku top star system.

[edit] Other performers in the company

Group Flower Moon Snow Star Cosmos
Otokoyaku Yūhi Ōzora, Kazuho Sou, Harei Aine, Aki Misuzu, Sugata Mano, Manato Asaka Hiromu Kiriya, Haruhi Ryoga, Ayato Moeki, Izumi Aoki, Sonoka Kiryū, Masaki Ryū Mao Ayabuki, Kei Otozuki, Oto Ayana,[4] Kaname Ouki, Tooma Ozuki You Tatsuki, Shio Suzumi, Reon Yuzuki, Ryouka Kazu, Shun Mahiro Tomu Ranju, Hiro Yuumi,[5] Kairi Hokushou, Hikaru Nanaho, Irisu Toki
Musumeyaku Ichika Sakura, Juria Hanano, Sumika Nono Ai Shirosaki, Remi Shirahana Ai Yamashina, Izuru Amase[6] Marie Koto, Seara Hisaki Asahi Miwa, Izumi Otono, Miou Kazune, Arisu Hanakage

^  The younger sister of Nao Ayaki, the former top star (otokoyaku) of Moon Troupe
^  The tallest actress in the entire company
^  Former otokoyaku, switched to musumeyaku in 2004

[edit] Upper and lower classes

The terms upperclassmen (上級生) and lowerclassmen (下級生) (the Japanese terms are gender-neutral) are used to distinguish senior and junior members of Takarazuka. Lowerclassmen are the actresses who have been performers in Takarazuka for less than seven years. They are employees of the company, and usually work as background dancers and in shinjin kouen (performances exclusively for underclassmen). After the seventh year they become upperclassmen, and negotiate contracts with the company instead of being employed by it.

[edit] Former Takarasiennes

Takarazuka roster members who went on to work in stage, movies and television include:

otokoyaku musumeyaku

[edit] Audience of Takarazuka

The audience of Takarazuka is primarily women; in fact some estimates say the audience is 90 percent female.[3] There exist two primary theories as to what draws these women to Takarazuka. One theory states that the women are drawn to the lesbian overtones inherent in Takarazuka. As one author states: “It was not masculine sexuality which attracted the Japanese girl audience but it was feminine eroticism”.[6] The rival theory is that the girls are not drawn to the implicit sexuality of Takarazuka, but instead are fascinated by the otokoyaku (the women who play male roles) “getting away with a male performance of power and freedom”.[7]

Jennifer Robertson favors the first theory. In Takarazuka, she observes that lesbian themes occur in every performance, simply by virtue of the fact that women play every role. The audience clearly picks up on this aspect of Takarazuka and responds to it. Within the first ten years from the founding of Takarazuka the audience was vocally responding to the apparent lesbianism. Female fans wrote love letters to the otokoyaku (women playing the male roles). In 1921 these letters were published and several years after that publication the newspapers and public started up a cry against Takarazuka, which was quickly becoming a “symbol of abnormal love”. In order to combat this, the women were kept in strict living conditions and were no longer allowed to associate with their fans.[4] Robertson mentions a phenomenon of “S” or “Class S” love. In this particular style of love the women who have been influenced by Takarazuka return to their daily lives and feel free to develop crushes on their female classmates or coworkers.[citation needed] This type of romance is typically fleeting and is seen in Japanese society as more of a phase in growing up rather than true lesbian behavior.[6] Robertson sums up her theory well in the following: “many females are attracted to the Takarazuka otokoyaku because she represents an exemplary female who can negotiate successfully both genders and their attendant roles and domains”[4]

The competing theory, supported by Erica Abbitt, is that the female audience of Takarazuka is drawn not exclusively by lesbian overtones, but rather by the subversion of stereotypical gender roles. Japan is a society notorious for its rigid conception of gender roles. Even in Takarazuka the original goal of the show was to create the ideal good wife and wise mother. While this may have been the goal off stage, on stage gender roles are (by necessity) subverted. The otokoyaku must act the way men are supposed to act. This subversion of the roles that the average woman in Japan finds herself trapped in has a strong appeal. Abbitt also says a large portion of the appeal of Takarazuka comes from something she calls “slippage”. This slippage refers to the enjoyment derived from a character portraying something they are not, in this case a female portraying a man. Abbitt does not deny the presence of lesbian overtones within Takarazuka, but proposes that the cause for the largely female audience has more to do with this subversion of societal norms rather than sexual ones.[7]

[edit] Fan clubs

Some ardent fans demonstrate their loyalty to one or another performer by wearing scarves of a particular color or even jackets colorfully embroidered with the star's name. Following performances at the Takarazuka Theater in Tokyo, as many as several hundred fans congregate in their various club groups, each club represented by several members or dozens, standing in orderly ranks on either side of the street in front of the theatre. Theatre officials set up barricades and oversee the assembly. Occasionally one group will sit and all the others follow suit (much like the "Audience wave" seen in athletic arenas) with subsequent intervals of standing and sitting. The fans wait patiently, with little conversation, for their favorites to exit the theatre.[8] (Their decorum contrasts markedly to the noisy, competitive and often pushy autograph-seekers who wait outside stage doors in the west.) An almost eerie ritualistic calm prevails. As the stars come out of the building one by one, some alone but most accompanied, orderly quiet continues to prevail. The glamorous performers, now mostly in slacks or jeans with high heels and wearing oversize visored "newsboy" caps to hide their hair (and some with sunglasses even in the night), move along to their own particular fan clubs. Rather than requesting autographs, the fans proffer cards, which are gathered efficiently by each star, who may say a very few words but then waves and move on. Once the last stars have emerged and departed, the clubs disband quietly into the night.

[edit] Influence

Takarazuka has had a profound influence on the history of anime and manga especially shōjo manga.[9] Osamu Tezuka, known to some as the "God of Manga", grew up in the town of Takarazuka. His mother knew many of the Takarazuka actresses, and as a child he knew them and watched many of their performances.[9][10] Based on their stories of noble princes played by female actresses,[9] Tezuka created Princess Knight[11] the first manga aimed at a female audience, which tells the story of Princess Sapphire, a girl born with both a male and female heart who struggles between the desire to fight as a noble prince and to be a tender, gentle princess. The great success of Princess Knight and other Tezuka stories began the tradition of manga written for a female audience, especially the very influential Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena series, both of which borrow directly from Princess Knight by including specific Tezuka images, character designs and names. Rose of Versailles is one of Takarazuka's most known musicals. Women in masculine roles continue to be a central theme in shoujo manga and anime as well as some shounen, and Tezuka himself explored the theme in many of his later works including Dororo, Phoenix and Black Jack.

While the influence of Osamu Tezuka and Takarazuka on anime and manga is general, there are still many series which show more specific influences. The Takarazuka Revue inspired the plot of the original Sakura Wars video game, along with additional inspiration from Takarazuka's one-time competitor the Shochiku Kagekidan (Shochiku Revue).[12] The Zuka Club in Ouran High School Host Club is based on the Takarazuka Revue. Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh of Sailor Moon were loosely based on the actors of the Takarazuka Revue.[13]

The anime most strongly influenced by the Takarazuka Revue is Sakura Taisen, where the organization of the characters are based on upon those of the Takarazuka Revue.

[edit] Takarazuka and Homosexuality in Japanese Society

For a society that has been at least contextually accepting of homosexuality for most of its history (see Homosexuality in Japan), Japan is surprisingly biased against lesbian activity. This bias is apparent in the early history of Takarazuka. After the scandal of women writing love letters to the otokoyaku and the revelation of an actual lesbian relationship between one of the otokoyaku and one of the musumeyaku, Takarazuka was greatly limited in order to do away with this lesbian image. To do this the women began wearing militaristic uniforms. On 19 August 1940, the actresses were even forbidden to answer fan mail and socialize with their admirers.[4][page needed]

In the years since this time the regulations have relaxed slightly but not much. It caused another scandal when, for the first time, one of the otokoyaku cut her hair so it was short (previously all of the actresses had their hair long and the otokoyaku simply hid their hair under hats).[4][page needed] Despite trends to being more open about things like homosexuality, and trends towards androgyny, lesbianism is still not widely accepted in Japan.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kobayashi Ichizo. “Takarazuka Manpitsu (1955)”. Tokyo, Daiyamondsha. 1961. Kobayashi Ichizo 2: 445-46.
  2. ^ Kawatake, Toshio. “A History of Japanese Theater II: Bunraku and Kabuki”. Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. Tokyo. 1971. pp.15-52.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Brau. "The Women’s Theatre of Takarazuka." TDR 34.4 :79-95.
  4. ^ a b c d e Robertson, Jennifer. “Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan.” Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
  5. ^ http://www.capcom.co.jp/gyakutensaiban/takarazuka_index.html
  6. ^ a b Dollase, Hiromi (2003). "Early Twentieth Century Japanese Girls' Magazine Stories: Examining Shōjo Voice in Hanamonogatari (Flower Tales)". The Journal of Popular Culture 36 (4): 724–755. doi:10.1111/1540-5931.00043. ISSN 00223840. OCLC 1754751. 
  7. ^ a b Abbitt, Erica Stevens. “Androgyny and Otherness: Exploring the West Through the Japanese Performative Body”. Asian Theatre Journal 18.2: 249-256.
  8. ^ The feminine `kabuki' alternative
  9. ^ a b c Randall, Bill (May 15, 2003). "Three By Moto Hagio". The Comics Journal (252). http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=283&Itemid=48. Retrieved on 2008-01-23. 
  10. ^ Gravett, Paul (2004). Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics. Harper Design. p. 77. ISBN 1-85669-391-0. 
  11. ^ Welker, James (2006). "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: "Boys' Love" as Girls' Love in Shōjo Manga" ([dead link] – Scholar search). Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 31 (3): 841. doi:10.1086/498987. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/SIGNS/journal/issues/v31n3/40167/40167.text.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-20. 
  12. ^ Interview with Ouji Hiroi, partially translated at the Takarazuka Revue Community LiveJournal page. Retrieved on 2007-07-19
  13. ^ Takeuchi, Naoko. Materials Collection. Translated by Alex Glover. Japan: Kodansha. http://www.kurozuki.com/takeuchi/sailormoon/settei.html. ""[Haruka] plays a male role in Takarazuka."" 

[edit] General references

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 34°48′26″N 135°20′47″E / 34.807177°N 135.346392°E / 34.807177; 135.346392

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