Takarazuka

Sorry I haven't posted in over a week!

Last weekend, I went to see a Hanshin Tigers game with some friends. It was cold and pouring rain, but we had an amazing time! I wish the weather had been nicer...I can't imagine having more fun. Because it was raining, I didn't take out my camera since my bag was full of notebooks for school and I didn't want them to get wet. I've been waiting for friends to upload their pictures so I can post a picspam. I'll gather photos and post them soon.

Yesterday, I went to see a show at the Takarazuka Grand Theater with my Pop Culture as Social Practice class.

The poster for the play we saw, Paradise Prince.

Our professor arranged for a couple of his classes to go see a performance because of Takarazuka's enormous and highly structured fan culture. (He also provided the three following photos.) The performances themselves are pretty interesting.

Our class in front of the Takarazuka Grand Theater.

Takarazuka is lavish, Broadway-esque all-female acting/singing/dancing company. There are five troupes within the company of varying talent and popularity. (I think the troupe we saw perform was one of the lower ones.) The fans of the shows and actresses are 90% female.
The women in the company enter when they are fairly young, junior high or high school, I think. They have two years of strict training at the Takarazuka music school before they can become members fo a troupe. The school is incredibly competitive - thousands of girls from all over Japan apply each year, and only 40 to 50 are selected.

Inside the Grand Theater.

These girls are trained together for their first year, but then are separated into male performers (otokoyaku) and female roles (musumeyaku). The otokoyaku are required to cut their hair, speak in a masculine form, and take on a more masculine role in the classroom. Since the mannerisms and language in Japan differ so much between the genders, I can only imagine that this is a massive head trip.

Interestingly enough, the otokoyaku are the more popular performers. The men portrayed in Takarazuka shows are a form of "ideal male" - an androgynous combination of female sensitivity and manliness. Women are drawn to Takarazuka because of the inherent sexuality in the performances. For some, the draw is the (obvious) lesbian overtones; for others, the fascination of the otokoyaku getting away with being a man.

Overall, it was a really cool performance to attend! I really enjoyed it. The show was split into two parts: the musical Paradise Prince and an extravagant revue called Dancing for You. I actually preferred the latter. The musical was difficult to understand and the story itself, even in English, was pretty weak. The dancing was flashy and over-the-top. Think showgirls adorned with massive peacock-like feathers on their backs and "men" in sequined suits. I could have watched it for hours.