Relay de Sienne: Yashiro Kou x Ritsu Tomomi
(Takarazuka Graph September 2004)
Ritsu: Thank you so much for nominating me (laughs).
Yashiro: We’re year-mates, but our troupes have always been different. There really wasn’t a chance to contact each other until we entered senka. But during our Music School years, we were very good friends.
Ritsu: We sure were.
Yashiro: Speaking of when we were in the Music School… One day, while we were on our way to singing lessons, pitter-patter, a bunch of fat little puppies ran over. Since I adore dogs, I called, “So cute!” and moved closer to them. But Tomomi-chan cried, “Aaaa!” I’ll never forget that (laughs).
Ritsu: I’m really bad with animals (laughs). I was bitten by a dog when I was little and I think I was traumatized. Even now, if a dog starts to come over, I’ll go down another street.
Yashiro: That’d make you look bad if the way you talked about it wasn’t so odd.
Ritsu: You think so?
Yashiro: For some reason we laughed our heads off.
Ritsu: Once when we were in the Music School, we visited temples in Kyoto for fun, huh?
Yashiro: Like Kyoto’s Sanzen-in, right?
Ritsu: Our year-mates Mikkii (Jun Mitsuki) and Sumire-chan (Shou Sumire) were with us. I still have the black and white picture we took.
Yashiro: Stop it! (laughs)
Ritsu: We ate our lunch on the temple grounds.
Yashiro: I ate my lunch even when it was the garden at the Palace of Versailles (laughs).
Ritsu: Our debut show when we graduated from the Music School was, My Idol.
Yashiro: I became a fan of Kou Nishiki-san, the top star for that show. I absolutely loved Kou-san’s dancing. During the performance of the play, Piraaru no Hanamatsuri [“Pilar Flower Festival”], when Kou-san went out from the Hanamichi, she let me try pulling the curtain. Back then I was still an otokoyaku.
Ritsu: That’s right, Shibi-chan (Yashiro) was an otokoyaku at first. After our debut show, until we were about Ken-4, we couldn’t really keep up with what each other was doing.
Yashiro: We were busy with lessons and all, but, back then, it was more because I was less interested in Takarazuka than in Group Sounds.
Ritsu: Yeah, yeah.
Yashiro: The Jaguars, The Tempters, The Tigers… I was a fan of The Jaguars, so I really pursued them.
Ritsu: You were gone so much, that we wondered, “Is Yashiro-san even in Takarazuka anymore?” (laughs)
Yashiro: I liked going to jazz coffeehouses more than watching Takarazuka. When we’d have a Tokyo show, 15 minutes after the final curtain, I’d leave the dressing room and go to a jazz joint in Ginza.
Ritsu: Oh, my!
Yashiro: The shop closed at around 9:30, so if I didn’t hurry, I’d miss the last stage. Plus, I enjoyed requesting songs I liked. Ah, that was youth!
Ritsu: Of course, Shibi-chan’s youth would have to be like that (laughs).
Yashiro: (laughs)
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Yashiro: After our debut show, we were in different troupes, so the first time we got to co-star was after I’d joined senka, when I made a special appearance with Moon Troupe in Rasen no Orufe [“Orpheus in Spiral”] and Nova Bossa Nova. [In 1999]
Ritsu: Co-starring after some 20 years (laughs).
Yashiro: Back then Tomomi-chan was the Moon Troupe Kumichou [Troupe Leader] and so you were really busy and couldn’t spend time with me. That and, as Kumichou, you got really mad at me during the duet, when I opened the curtain the wrong way.
Ritsu: Yeah, that happened too (laughs).
Yashiro: “Shibi-chan! You’re opening the curtain wrong!” and your face turned red. “Oh, am I? Why’s that?” – is what I thought in my heart at the time (laughs).
Ritsu: (laughs) Shibi-chan, in your scenes with me, you were always laughing when the audience couldn’t see.
Yashiro: Just saying the name of your character was funny! “Hanussen” – your breath whooshes out (laughs).
Ritsu: After that, two or three times there were shows that I wanted to be in together. But I guess we still haven’t had the chance?
Yashiro: This interview has been a great opportunity. They even took our picture together.
Ritsu: It’s truly the first page of youth (laughs).
Yashiro: A looong, looong, first page of youth.
Ritsu: Yep. They’re carefully saving the cover of this Graph for us.
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Yashiro: Speaking of which, there was a time I went behind your back to see the Shanghai show. I bought the tickets and made all the arrangements secretly, absolutely without telling anyone.
Ritsu: That was for the Beijing and Hong Kong, China show, right? We thought there was no way you could come, so we were thrilled!
Yashiro: Mami-chan (Makoto Tsubasa) was starring in the show, and I went into her dressing room and suddenly shouted, “Nihao!” from behind her. She spun around in shock. She seemed extremely happy to see me. And then, we could hear from the different dressing rooms, “What? Doesn’t that sound like Shibi’s voice?”
Ritsu: (laughs)
Yashiro: Everyone started coming out of their dressing rooms and they all acted surprised. (laughs)
Ritsu: We were all really surprised! We were doing a show in a strange place, plus everyone was tired, and then Shibi-chan came to visit us. We were incredibly happy.
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Ritsu: Takarazuka became famous for, Berusaiyu no Bara [“Rose of Versailles”] to the point where people can’t understand what it was like before. You and I were in both, so we can talk about it. Takarazuka after “Beru” is like a completely different world.
Yashiro: The audience grew a lot bigger.
Ritsu: “Beru” brought us to the attention of the whole country and I think being thrust into the flow of society made Takarazuka itself change.
Yashiro: I agree.
Ritsu: I think that the sort of students who, until then, had come to Takarazuka as a place to study etiquette disappeared.
Yashiro: From my point of view, since then there are students who enter the Music School because they’re interested in Takarazuka itself. But they still get to learn etiquette (laughs).
Ritsu: Takarazuka is an extremely warm place. When it comes to taking care of its students, I don’t think it’s changed at all. I’m really grateful for that.
Yashiro: Everyone is given an equal chance, but, that chance is yours and you have to use it.
Ritsu: Maybe since you and I are from the same year’s class, you’ll understand this. Recently, when I watch the shinjin kouen [Rookie Shows], I think that today’s underclassmen imitate the original player, to the point of picking up the weak points. I’m including myself in this, but, once you know someone’s bad habits, it’s easy to distinguish them.
Yashiro: When they seek my advice for shinjin kouen and such, I say, “You must bring out the best things about yourself.”
Ritsu: That really is what you have to do.
Yashiro: Because a shinjin kouen where all you do is imitate the original player is completely pointless.
Ritsu: And you can’t have any artistic strength. You need to have that idea tied to it. Don’t you think today’s underclassmen are merely derivative?
Yashiro: They have no individuality.
Ritsu: Don’t just quit at the norm; I really want it to have a lot of originality. At the shinjin kouen, I want them to perform differently from the original.
Yashiro: Make the most of your own personality.
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Yashiro: From now on, we’ll continue to flow naturally, like a river…
Ritsu: Yeah. And it’d be great if we could be in the same show again sometime.
Yashiro: Yes, it would.
Ritsu: I think the good relations between us won’t change, so continue in good health… (laughs)
Yashiro: Yes, with our good health, we can play our assigned roles with all our might…
Ritsu: While we have fun, it’d be good if we did some acting. And in the future too, we can do that while we’re criticizing each other (laughs).
Yashiro: And like this, we’ll say it straight, just as much as we want (laughs).
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