Haha. Just my little joke, gentle readers. When thinking about what on Earth I was going to include in my "Japanese pop culture and entertainment", the first thing that popped into my brain was "well, it's really bloody expensive". But it's okay, they're "hammering down the prices"! No, really what I want to speak about in this post is 宝塚歌劇団 - that is, Takarazuka Revue. Takarazuka Revue is an all-female troupe of actresses who produce the most wonderful, sparkling shows. From what I have researched, and from the experience of seeing one of their performances recently, they are a veritable phenomenon in Japan, mainly among women. According to this article from the Japan Times, the Takarazuka Revue theatres sell two million tickets per year, with an astounding 95% attendance rate. This drives home to me the point that Takarazuka Revue really is something special in Japan. As you can see in the picture below...
...the theatre is amazing in itself. Walking from the front gate to your seat can take 10-15 minutes, such is the theatre's size. It's all a part of the Takarazuka Revue experience! People crowd for pictures against the most iconic features - the self-playing piano, the photos on the wall of the stars of each troupe (there are five: Flower, Moon, Snow, Star and Cosmos), and of course the grand, red-carpeted staircase.
I was glad I could capture this moment. This girl was looking up to her idol (Sei Matobu, the provocative, sexy otokoyaku - that is, she was playing a male character) while her mother took a picture on her cellphone. I did ask for permission after I took the picture. There does seem to be a lot of idolisation amongst Takarazuka fans - who themselves are many and passionate. There have been discussions (here, for instance) in which it's mused that Takarazuka Revue is, for many woman, an escape from the male-dominated society of Japan; that it's a place and a time where they can be who they want to be and in way, through the characters on stage, explore their own sexuality more than is allowed within the boundaries of Japanese gender relations.
Reading this blog, it's interesting that when Takarazuka exploded into the Japanese cultural mind in the early 19th-century, it wasn't originally intended to be such a blatant and flagrant sexually-charged and gender-role-challenging group, but anti-homosexual propaganda was rife at this time, and "Takarazuka became a huge site for female-female desire, both onstage and off".
However, as the site notes, "the shows are threatening in many ways, and this seems to be the tension that has kept Takarazuka a live wire for over 90 years". So maybe it's this frivolous frisson of taboo (amid all the fabulous, glitsy, cross-dressing showbiz that I so immensely enjoyed) that gives Takarazuka Revue the popularity it enjoys today.
A nice accompaniment of history with this topic. The picture of the small girl looking at the poster does well to visually represent what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteGreat subject for this week's theme of pop culture. One of your classmates also did a post on Takarazuka:
ReplyDeletehttp://kansaimonkey.livejournal.com/1117.html
Nice overview and helpful links. I really like the second picture - it speaks volumes. And I like that you got permission...
In wonder if you could increase your font size and make your blog a little easier to read. The last paragraph seems even smaller and it was difficult to make out.
You are so lucky to have gone to see a Takarazuka show! I hope that at some point during my stay in Japan I will have the opportunity to do so. I have done a little bit of research in the past about Takarazuka but I think your post was great for even more information.
ReplyDeleteThe shot of the girl with the poster is great. I never would have imagined that even little girls idolize the actresses! For some reason I had the impression that it was the older audience.
Woo, good research.
ReplyDeleteWhat show did you see? I'm curious about the extent to which the actresses played up the gender roles within the show. Like, how much do the male parts act like males? Is it all slightly skewed toward the effeminate?
Mr Stern - thank you!
ReplyDeleteSir Gonthros - I've changed the font size now - my mistake! Hope that's a bit better.
Lady Katsup - thank you for your comments! If possible you should totally try and see a show, they're really quite amazing. Unfortunately the one I went to see is closed now but another one (with a different troupe) is currently playing. And by and large, it was an older audience, with some younger ones (starlets? XD) in and around.
Joe - thanks! The show I went to see was split into two parts: The Rose of Versailles (Andre's Story) and EXCITER. With EXCITER arguably being the more, er, exciting part.
Also - the onnayaku, the female parts, are very delicate and elegant and feminine and the otokoyaku, the male parts, are...well, very masculine. Not only visually (apart from the trademark feminine makeup), but also in voice, and movement. Very striking!