Star Troupe Top Star Hokushou Kairi’s Retirement Interview: “I can graduate completely full and satisfied”

- carlyas

On April 27, 2016, Star Troupe’s top star Hokushou Kairi, who announced that she will retire from the Takarazuka Revue on November 20, held a press conference in Osaka. She gave some details about her decision to retire, such as, “I’ve been able to shine for three Grand Theater shows. The most important thing was to set the table for the next person.”

Dressed in a white pant suit and smiling with her whole face, Hokushou, radiating a sense of fulfillment, opened with, “In the 21 years (since The Music School) that I’ve been with Takarazuka, I’ve made so many connections, and I’ve come to do the things I wanted to without any regrets.”

Stepping into her debut in 1998, Hokushou was assigned to Moon Troupe, and after transferring to Cosmos Troupe, she moved to Senka in 2012. Last May, she took the baton from Yuzuki Reon and became top of Star Troupe. She said that she decided from this point of inauguration that she’d retire after 3 Grand Theater shows, 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been able to shine for three shows, and I feel like the most important thing was to set the table for the next person. From now on, I hope that the people who continue to carry Takarazuka will run into a lot of opportunities.” This “wise one,” who got her longed-for top position in her 18th year, has been, above all else, thinking of the future generations.

She only informed the other troupe members after the closing performance of the Grand Theater show on the 25th. “It was so sudden, everyone was shocked. There were a lot of different reactions,” she said.

While foremost is her preeminence in singing skill, Hokushou is also proficient with acting, dance, and talk, and has become a top star that anyone can honestly approve of. However, her path to the top was not smooth sailing. Regarding her time in The Music School, Hokushou says, “My grades were nearly always the worst.” She reflected that during her time in Senka, even though she’d embraced her top aspirations, “As a performer, I learned a lot about the attitude and posture I assumed onstage. It was an important time.”

According to the President of the Board of Directors, Ogawa Tomotsugu, during Grand Theater show runs, on days with only one performance Hokushou would participate in lessons, and she’s come to set that sort of example for her peers. “She’s someone who overcame a harsh, painful, “winter-like” period, and carries those memories as top,” he praised. “I wish I could tell my past self, ‘it’s fine if you keep on doing your best just as you are.’ Because I am who I am now thanks to everything I experienced,” Hokushou said.

Right now, she’s throwing everything she has into the performance in front of her. In her career she’s starred in shows with all five troupes. “Until the end, I want to convey my sparkle and the things I’ve cultivated to everyone in my troupe. When things calm down a bit, I’ll hold a thank you party for my fans.”

As for the old retirement-time question “what about marriage….”

“I thought no one would ask me that, so I’m glad,” she said, laughing. “I’ll leave that to ‘Lady Luck’,” she answered, quoting the theme song lyrics from her top debut performance, Guys and Dolls. Because she’s only good at cooking, “Maybe I’ll look for a partner who loves to eat?” she said, smiling.

Original Source

Nozomi Fuuto – Personal Data

- carlyas

From Personal Book 2015 Vol. 1: Nozomi Fuuto

PROFILE

Height: 169 cm
Eyesight: Both eyes are about 0.1. I wear contacts.
Ring size: I think it’s probably 11. For otokoyaku accessories I look for ones a little larger.
Shoe size: 25.5 cm
Strong point: Probably my positivity.
Weak point: If something unexpected happens I can’t calm down.
Past life: I’ve been told both an English aristocrat and a Chinese shopkeeper (haha).
Catchphrase: “Beyond myself.”* It’s the 4-kanji idiom I came up with during Sengoku Basara for publishing in the program.

IF YOU WERE A…

Letter of the alphabet: Maybe A. Because my blood type is A, and the initial of my real name is A.
Number: 5. Because I’ve been told 5 is very good luck for me.
Country: Italy. Because lately I’ve been playing one Italian character after another.
Color: White and Black. Because I have both inside me.
Season: Autumn. Because I was born in the fall, and I feel like that’s when I’m most like myself.
Animal: Because I have a ferret, people around me always tell me that my movements and reactions resemble one.

PREFERENCES

How much sugar you put in your coffee and tea: I don’t really put in sugar. However, if I feel like drinking something sweet I’ll add some…
Favorite cuisine out of Japanese, Chinese, and Western: Japanese. Like natto with rice or miso soup. If there’s something on top of rice… if there’s ikura it’s the best (haha).
Color clothing you usually wear: I have a lot of different black, gray, and monotone things. I wonder if monotones look best on me.
How you like your interior decoration: Gray carpet with white furniture. But the thing I’m most particular about is my television, it’s gotta be big. When I’m watching Takarazuka shows, the impact is greater on a large television, and if I can see people’s faces, in old performances when the rockette comes on I can go, “Ah! It’s so-and-so!” So a big one is more convenient (haha).
Things you never go on a trip without: A memo pad. In the evening I write down where I went etc. I also bring one along on national tours, and I like to write down things I notice.
Your specialty at karaoke: Ishikawa Sayuri’s Amagi-goe. Then, Ikimonogakari’s songs.
Your lock screen: I change it fairly frequently, but right now it’s Winnie the Pooh. Sometimes I also change it according to the season or the role I’m playing.
Line stamps you use frequently: A stamp of this character “planking,” laying horizontally across a pedestal. It’s a fad to do this pose in reality and take a photo, and it looks like that made it into a stamp, but I’ve also tried this pose and had a picture taken in the rehearsal room (haha). I also use the animated Stitch ones.
Your sideshow talent: I don’t really have a specialty, but if I wanted to participate in a sideshow, I feel like I’d do whatever was decided for me. A lot of people are do impressions of the staff and instructors connected to the current performance.

TOP 3

Animals you like: Ferrets, sea otters, and hamsters. I’ve kept ferrets and hamsters.
Places you like: In Takarazuka, where the air is clean, there are mountains, you can see the stars, and there’s a river, I feel refreshed. After that, the area around my home. Then department stores.
Foods you like: Anmitsu, yaki onigiri, ikura.
Foods you hate: Spicy things, garlic, eel.
Scary things: Earthquakes, horror stories, thunder. I want to live peacefully.
Things you’d ask of God: World peace. I’d want earthquakes and natural disasters to be lessened. Then, I want Takarazuka to expand worldwide!

WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD

You childhood nickname: Aya-cha, Ayako-chan
A hairstyle you frequently wore: A full ponytail (haha). That was probably my trademark.
A game you frequently played: I’d make roadways in the park sandbox, and then flow water through them. I’d also go on really far bike rides with everyone, I really liked exploring… anyway I just loved to play outside.
A TV show you liked: In elementary school, I loved the drama, “I am Reiko Shiratori!” and I’d mimic it even in school. When someone would take a picture I’d always put my hand near my chin and make that “hoooohohohohoho” laughing pose (haha).
An idol you liked: Miyake Ken from V6
First love: If I think about it now, early on in elementary school, it was probably this kid who I always used to fight with. We’d fight and he’d make me cry, then I’d provoke the next fight, and I bet that was probably my first love (haha).
Clubs you were in: In elementary school I did a lot: band, kotekitai, badminton. In middle school I joined student council, and I started as secretary, and I ended up vice president. In high school I was a drummer in the pop music band, but I didn’t actually participate.
Sports you were good at: In dodgeball, my specialty was the discus throw. The real thrill of dodgeball was how happy I got when I was able to make a catch (haha)
What you wanted to be when you grew up: Ever since my 4th year of elementary school or so I wanted to join Takarazuka and be an otokoyaku.

RECORDS

The longest amount of time you spend on your smartphone: Since I’m always looking up things related to our performances or things that are on my mind, I feel like I’m always on it.
Longest bath: About an hour while I’m reading a book.
How long you’ve kept the TV on in your house in a single day: If I’m home it’s always on.

YOUR LIFE AS A PERFORMER

Up till now, your #1 favorite…

Song: Yume wo Uru Hito from when I played Benedict in Ocean’s 11
Dance: A group dance from Canon choreographed by KAZUMI-BOY called “Passion Negro.” It was a dance scene where during rehearsal when I got to see Mayu-san (Ranju Tomu) do it, I thought, “wow, she can dance like this?!” like I’d seen the light.
Scene: The Elisabeth prologue. The part where after I make my appearance as Lucheni, all the spirits come out, and I call on Der Tod. During rehearsal the moment when everyone’s voices became one left a huge impression on me.
 Costume: Liu Wei Qiang’s outfit from BUND/NEON Shanghai.
That costume’s back story is it’s the character’s one good suit bought for him by his boss Du Yue Shen, then he has a bit of success, and places an order for a fabric better than everyone else’s (haha).
Still photo: The current Cagliostro one from Lupin III. If I look back at photos from this time or that time my face has gradually changed, so when I look at old ones I’m like WAH! (haha), that’s why the current one is best.
Line: In Love and Death in Arabia I played the boy Yesim, and on the silver bridge he says the line, “There is only one God.” The concept of a child giving this powerful interjection was difficult, it took a lot of time before I was able to say it well.
Role: I really like all of my roles, but especially Lucheni from Elisabeth and Benedict from Ocean’s 11. In both cases I didn’t like the role at all during rehearsal, but when I got on stage, before I knew it I was enjoying myself every time.

*TN: It’s 真面目越, if anyone can offer something better.

4 Classmates, All Tops

- carlyas

 

Interview with Makoto Tsubasa & Aika Mire, from Takarazuka Revue Splendor of 100 Years

A fate “like split ends of a hair”

MAKOTO: It’s been a while, but it doesn’t really feel like it’s been that long. The two of us have close birthdays, we both debuted in 1985 and were assigned to Hanagumi, and although I moved to Tsukigumi in the middle, we were always together until we retired in 2001.

AIKA: I think two people walking the same path like that might be rare even for classmates.

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