Original Japanese interview courtesy of WalkerPlus. First half is here, second half is here.
Studio Ghibli’s first musical production will be performed in Kansai. Based in Akita, the creators of this original musical are the Warabi-za company, a theatrical troupe that tours the whole country. The musical “Omohide Poro Poro” was first performed in 2011, and in 2012 went on national tour. The 2011 Warabi-za Tokyo performance featured former Takarazuka otokoyaku top stars, with Asami Hikaru starring as Taeko, and Mori Keaki playing both Taeko’s mother and the grandmother in Yamagata. This time for the tour finale, it will debut in Osaka and return to Tokyo.
The story takes place in the summer of 1982. One day, 27-year-old office lady Taeko sees her 5th-grade self appear before her. Utilizing her summer vacation, Taeko leads “herself” on a trip to the Yamagata countryside…
The movie’s story is being revived in a musical performance. We asked Asami Hikaru to share her thoughts about the production.
Q: Can you tell us about your decision to perform in this show?
I’m from Sendai, the story of the show is about Yamagata, and Warabi-za uses Akita as its headquarters, so therefore, somehow I immediately got the sense that Tohoku was calling me. And truly, I was moved to answer quickly. Shortly before the first rehearsals started in Akita the 2011 Tohoku earthquake happened, and I thought ah, this didn’t happen by chance, it was surely fate that I would inevitably perform in this show. Even though at the time that I accepted it was really an unforeseen diversion, from then on I thought that it was really important that I do this show. When I was given the opportunity to take part in this production after the earthquake, I thought it was something truly necessary for me to do for myself, and now I still really think so.
Q: How did it go?
I was able to perform very freely, but day after day, it was like my heart was being cleansed. Nature is such an important thing, and even though I think everyone feels this way, it started to hit closer to home, or how should I put it… I got the sense that it began to influence me in an unconscious way, and I began to love nature more and more, and I grew to like rural areas. I work in the city, but when I have time I’ll go somewhere in the countryside, and even though it might only be a short trip, I can recharge just by breathing the air and strolling. I began to long for this kind of time more so than before; it really increased. Therefore since the middle of the previous Tokyo performance, I’ve thought I definitely wanted to do the show again, and Mori (Keaki)-san and I talked about it together.
Q: Have you seen the movie? What do you think about the stage adaptation?
I love Ghibli films, so of course I’ve seen it. I’m a Ghibli fan, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is my favorite, but I’ve seen all of Hayao Miyazaki’s animations and Isao Takahata’s works. I’ve also seen Heidi, Girl of the Alps and Conan (hehe). So I was also thinking how on earth are you going to turn this into a stage show? While we were going through rehearsals, each and every time I thought, “Oh, so this scene is being done like that,” and “Aaah, I see.” Some scenes are made differently from the animation, like when the 2nd year high school girl who plays childhood-era Taeko and I have conversations together; Kuriyama Tamiya-san’s direction is very interesting. So it’s full of scenes that make me think “Ah! This is so Ghibli!!” (haha). Naturally there are also scenes that are the same as in the animation. During rehearsals, I was admiring how well done it was. I think there are absolutely things you have to be a Ghibli fan to understand, and the director is. Therefore, I think Ghibli fans will be able to enjoy it twice as much. There are so many scenes I absolutely adore, and ones that are quite Ghibli-like as well.
Q: What are some scenes that you wanted to see, or that were especially enjoyable?
When Taeko goes to Yamagata and has a conversation with the local people for the first time. Here I think even the audience all at once has the same point of view as Taeko, and strongly gets a feeling of “Wow, we’ve come to the countryside!” I keep thinking, ah, they’ll be able to see that again, and I’m so excited. After that, the scene with Warabi-za’s Japanese dance festival band is really magical. It’s incredibly cool, but the dancers gradually become more scary-looking. There, my own feelings and Taeko’s troubled state of mind overlap each other. Reflecting on it now, I think that’s really amazing.
Q: Since it’s you who’s playing Taeko, are there also dance scenes?
Yes. One scene was made. In the scene where I’m helping to pick safflowers, I put on work pants and dance. The sun rises, and Taeko dances with happiness while the safflowers are glittering in the light. It was put together so fantastically, and when I was able to do it, I thought ah, so the show turned out like this, and I was very impressed.
Q: Sounds like fun! How did the audience react the first time?
It is fun. So much fun. It’s truly a magnificent production. I think the guests probably had more feelings along those lines. In the last Tokyo performance, we didn’t specifically include comedy, but everyone laughed a lot, and said it was extremely enjoyable. I was always giggling too while I was watching from the wings of the stage. I had to keep leaving, because I had to change my clothes 2 or 3 times. Even so, everyone found the theme easier to understand than in the animation. It was easy to convey and easy to understand. Even the last scene, the way it ends is the same as in the movie, but it might be clearer in the stage version. In the last scene, everyone starts crying naturally. There were a lot of people who said, “Warm tears really started dropping down, huh.”
Q: Taeko’s image suits you perfectly.
That’s what everyone tells me (haha). My parents’ house is sort of in the mountains of Fukushima, so I was familiar with the countryside from a young age, but since I became an adult I’ve only lived in the city. Since I also have the same sorts of feelings as Taeko, it’s been truly refreshing each and every time I’ve played her. So, it’s fun. Taeko gets tired of work and says oh, I’ll take a summer holiday, and goes to Yamagata. I think there are a lot of women who are worn out from their jobs, unmarried women who are living in the city and really doing their best with all their effort to make a living, people who would say “that’s exactly how I feel right now.” Since I also naturally have a lot of aspirations, I can sympathize. Truly, I feel like I understand. I’ve never been an office lady, but I can understand ah, they have times like this. Being 27 is tricky isn’t it, when you’re being told various things like you have to get married, but you’re doing your best to play an integral role at your job. I think the psychology of women in delicate situations like that comes through, and even though it’s just an animated movie those feelings are so real.
Q: Is there something you would like to convey through your performance?
The most important thing is something incredibly simple, that humans are living within nature, that each person is part of nature. So you’e living with your feet on the earth. I think this musical sets you up to think about these sorts of things anew. The way it’s interpreted by the people who see it may be different, but I think the theme of the production is how humans and nature face each other, and for each and every human being to find the simplest and most valuable way of life. So every day I’m deeply moved. In the dialogue and the songs, just about everything really, I feel the same way as Taeko. While I played her I was emotional every day.
Q: So you must be happy that you can play her one more time.
Yes, so happy. I’m looking forward to it. I really think it’s a privilege, and I’m truly happy to be given the opportunity to be accepted into Warabi-za. Everyone is straightforward and genuine above all else. The energy they put into this one show, I have a strong feeling it’s even more than those working in Tokyo. It’s something Mori-san has always said, when we’re here our spirits are cleansed. When you produce a show genuinely it turns out sincere. Where rehearsals are, although the previous time it was April, we were immersed in Mother Nature with snow still left on the ground. Certainly the environment helped too, and I’m full of truly wonderful memories.
Q: So Omohide Poro Poro has become an important production for you?
With things being the way they were, I was invited by Warabi-za, doing their best as a theater company to make local Japanese musicals, and so we made an original musical that was truly purely made in Japan. There really aren’t too many like that. I think it’s important and I want to continue doing Japanese-made musicals like that, so from now on if I have the opportunity I think it would be nice to steadily do more of them. As for musicals, after all they tend to be flashy western stories, but I want to do more Japanese stories for Japanese people about Japanese people, and in the midst of creating this run of Omohide Poro Poro I’ve been talking to the staff about that constantly.
Q: Since you re-watched the DVD beforehand, how do you think it’s going?
Watching the DVD in preparation, it’s unmistakably interesting. Making a movie into a stage show, generally when fans see it, there are lots of times when they think, “Eh?? That’s totally wrong!” I also feel that way often, but, really, this time I don’t at all. Since I’m saying this as a Ghibli fan, you can depend on it (haha). In the last scene, even I get a feeling of purification every time; it’s really a mysterious production. When they see it, I think all the guests will become good people (haha). I think it’s a musical that teaches you to keep living facing forward without standing still. So, if you’re a Ghibli fan, please come to the theater!