Spirits 500th Issue Anniversary Talk No. 6
I Want to Meet This Person!
Inspired Talk & Comic x Series
Volume 1. Talk - Rumiko Takahashi Meets Maki Ichiro

Translated by: Harley Acres

Maki Ichiro (一路真輝) has become the top star of the Takarazuka Revue's Snow Troupe. Her debut performance Heaven and Hell: Offenbach's Tale (天国と地獄~オッフェンバック物語〜) / Take Off finished at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Hyogo and will open at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre on August 1. Rumiko Takahashi looks into the heart of the Takarazuka Revue, which is attracting attention for its new charms.

The Wonderful World of Takarazuka, First Discovered by Seeing a Live Performance

Takahashi: I became a Takarazuka fan very recently. I happened to be invited by a friend to go see a performance in Tokyo. ^[1] Ichiro, when did you become interested in Takarazuka?

Ichiro: I became interested in it right before I started junior high school. I first became interested in Takarazuka when I saw a TV program that looked behind-the-scenes of the Takarazuka theater. Before that, I wondered why a woman would sing with such a voice, and I didn't like the unique atmosphere of Takarazuka. But when I saw a live performance on TV, I was amazed at what a wonderful world it was (laughs).

Takahashi: I've heard in order to enter the Takarazuka Revue, you first have to study singing and dancing for two years at the Takarazuka Music School. But I hear that the Takarazuka Music School is a very strict school with serious discipline, including hierarchical relationships.

Ichiro: I had also heard that the first year at the school was pure hell.

Takahashi: How was it when you entered? Were there times when you were scolded by the second-year students?

Ichiro: It was not at all what I expected (laughs). At school, it was the job of the pre-college students (first-year students) to clean the school building. When they first enroll at the school, they are assigned to their own area, and they polish and clean that area every morning for a year. The student who was in charge of that spot in the previous year is watching over you as a supervisor, so there is no room for slacking off. If you were in charge of a public telephone, you would be scolded even if the cord was off by one millimeter or if there was a single fingerprint on it... It was a series of such things, and I found myself being scolded from one morning to the next for a whole year (laughs). But it's not that I didn't learn the severity of being a stage performer through these experiences.. (laughs).

I chose male roles because I wanted to sing solo in the finale.

Takahashi: On the Takarazuka stage, the male and female roles are clearly separated. How do you decide which one you would pursue?

Ichiro: In music school, there is a course called "Drama," in which students are divided into male (男役/otokoyaku) and female (女役/onnayaku) roles and study acting. The students are free to choose which role they want to play, but it is difficult to say "you..." (あなた/anata) to someone who usually wears his hair long. ^[2] So those who choose to play male roles naturally shorten their hair or... In my case, I was determined from the beginning to compete in singing, so I tried to become a male actor who could sing solo on the grand staircase in the finale. ^[3]

Takahashi: After graduating from music school, you became a member of a theater company and are called Takarasenne, but how did you decide on your stage name? In your case, Michi-san, I've heard that you liked the word "Shinjitsu Ichiro" (真実一路/path of sincerity) and took it from that phrase. ^[4]

Ichiro: We decide on our stage name during the summer vacation after our first year and submit it to the revue company. In the past, I heard that name were typically taken from the Hyakunin Isshun, but nowadays it is sometimes taken from a favorite word or from the main character of a manga. ^[5] In my case, my former teacher gave me the name "Maki" (真輝) because she thought it would be a good name if I combined "Shinjitsu Ichiro" (真実一路).

Takahashi: But in the beginning, your first name was "Maki" (spelled "万輝").

Ichiro: That's right. At first, I used the kanji "10,000" (万), but it didn't feel right. So I checked the strokes and asked them to change it, but the revue company scolded me because it wasn't a very good thing to change the name that the fans had come to know (laughs).

Takahashi: When I saw Takarazuka for the first time, I thought it was very glamorous and typical of Takarazuka that everyone appeared with a big feather on their backs during the second half of the review, isn't it scary to come down the grand staircase singing with all those feathers on your back? ^[6]

Ichiro: The stage is a strange thing, and even if there is something scary, it will be vanish the moment the spotlight hits you. Actually, when I was little, I was attacked by a pigeon, and ever since then I have been afraid of bird feathers, and then had to wear a wig made of crow feathers. So there I was, crying in the wings waiting to come on stage with all these feathers. Even so, as soon as I was told, "go on, get out there!" I was fine. Even with the grand staircase, everyone is frightened at first, but strangely enough, the fear disappears once you step onto the stage.

When I felt the joy of the fans, I was touched.

Takahashi: Actually, this was my first visit to the Takarazuka Grand Theater, and there were a lot of fans around the theater with flowers and presents.

Ichiro: Many of them are really devoted fans, and some of them have been supporting me since my graduation performance at the music school. So it was a great joy for them to see me as the top star of the Snow troupe this time, and we all cried together when we saw the poster of the unveiling performance at the station. When I receive letters like that, I get emotional myself.. (laughs).. I have to work harder for them. And as a result, I will be happy if the Snow troupe will be naturally dyed in my color...

Takahashi: To these fans, Ichiro-san, you must seem like an ideal man.

Ichiro: We are on stage to give dreams to the people who support Takarazuka. That is what our job is all about, so I'm very happy if they feel that way.

Takahashi: In that case, even if you retire from the stage, you can't give up your appearance as an otokoyaku.

Ichiro: I can't wear skirts because it would destroy the dreams of my fans. So, sometimes, I enjoy a bit of relaxation and have a good time at karaoke with my friends. But then, we're all professionals, so we end up competing for the microphone (laughs). ^[7]

---

Footnotes

• [1] Rumiko Takahashi mentioned in Shonen Sunday 1992 Vol. 39 went to see Takarazuka with fellow Shonen Sunday mangaka Koji Kumeta, who was publishing Go!! Southern Ice Hockey Club (行け!!南国アイスホッケー部/Yuke!! Nangoku Ice Hockey Bu) in the magazine at the time. In her author comments in that issue Takahashi stated, "I finally saw Takarazuka!! Ah, Kumeta-sensei, thank you very much!" and in the same issue Kumeta jokingly stated, "Ah, I saw Takarazuka Revue. I even stood on stage, is that bad since I'm a man?" Kumeta would eventually find his greatest success in Shonen Magazine with Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei (さよなら絶望先生). When Takahashi sold 100,000,000 copies of her works in 1995 she was escorted to the event by Takarasenne Yoka Wao (和央ようか). Wao worked on the Takarazuka stage from 1988 to 2006 before retiring and transitioning to Broadway. In 2015 she married Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn.
• [2] Women would address their male lover as "you" (あなた/anata), and so to make that believability easier, the students playing male roles wear their hair shorter to enhance their masculine image. Takarazuka actors specialize in playing male roles (男役/otokoyaku) and female roles (女役/onnayaku) and then stick to those roles for the rest of their theatrical careers. These days the female roles are more typically referred to as "young girl roles" (娘役/musumeyaku).
• [3] The "grand staircase" (大階段/ookaidan) has become a standardized component of all Takarazuka Revues. It is a 26 step staircase that the actors descend while dancing and singing at the conclusion of a performance (regardless of which play is being performed, the grand staircase is worked into every show). Takarazuka has developed a number of unique stage elements such as this. Another such exmaple is the "silver bridge" (銀橋/ginkyou), a section of the stage that allows the performers to approach members of the audience that are in the front row to allow the audience a close look at the actors and their costumes.
• [4] Born Izumi Ishikawa (石川いづみ), Miki Ichiro was a Takarazuka performer from 1982 until she retired in 1996, and she was classified as a "top star" (トプ・スター) from 1993-1996. Her role as Robert/Jacques Offenbach in Heaven and Hell: Offenbach's Tale / Take Off marked her debut as the top star of the Snow Troupe. The top star automatically receives the lead male role in all of their troupe's peformances until their retirement.
• [5] The Hyakunin Isshun (百人一首) is a collection of 100 Japanese poems by 100 poets.
• [6] Takahashi is referring to the feathers (羽/hane) that adorn the costumes the Takarasennes wear when they descend the grand staircase for the finale of their performance. This is another standardized element of all Takarazuka performances and the feathers are known to be very heavy and difficult to wear while walking down the steep staircase. In addition to the elaborate, peacock-like spray of feathers the actors wear they often carry an object called a "shan-shan" (シャンシャン) or a "feather fan" (羽扇/hane-ougi) during the grand staircase sequence.
• [7] This interview ran in Big Comic Spirits in conjunction with Takahashi publishing a short story, Invitation to Takarazuka (published under the title Reserved Seat in English). Kenjiro Hata (畑健二郎) of Hayate the Combat Butler (ハヤテのごとく!) fame cites it as his favorite short story by Takahashi and asked her about how she created it. Takahashi stated, "At the time the editorial staff had said to me “We're taking you to the Takarazuka for story ideas” and when I went I came back really wanting to draw it! (laughs)".

---