Welcome to the beginning of Takarazuka Week here on Okazu! We’re starting off with something extremely exciting – an interview with former Takarasienne, Ako Dachs.

Ms. Dachs performed in Takarazuka under the name Natsumi Youko in Moon Troupe. She’s now living in New York, still working as a performer on TV,  movies and stage.  I’m excited as I can be to welcome her here to Okazu!

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1. Why did you want to join Takarazuka?
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My mother and grandmother were fans of Takarazuka and they took me to see it when I was very young. I was attracted by it immediately, and when I was ten years old I decided that I was determined to be a part of that company when I was old enough.

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2. What is your favorite memory from your time at Takarazuka? What show was your favorite to perform in?

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The favorite memory is when I was in my second year on stage with the company and had just started as an apprentice in Moon troop. There was an audition for the musical Oklahoma, and Ms. Gemze De Lappe, who had played a role called ‘a girl’ in the original production came to direct us. Ms. De Lappe wanted me to play Ado Annie, but Takarazuka had already chosen a star to play that role, so she gave me the role that she had played. I loved performing in that show, and I later became a featured singer and actress in the company.

But there were some other experiences that stood out: in two major productions I sang songs while legendary performers danced; Ms. Yachiyo Kasugano in Matoi Okesa, and Ms. Otome Amatsu in Ibaragi Doji My last show for Takarazuka was Goodbye Madeleine and the writer/director Mr. Shibata wrote a wonderful role for me.

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3. In your opinion, has there been any visible change in the way otokoyaku and musumeyaku roles are performed?

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Yes. Obviously the taller girls play otokoyaku – men’s roles, and in the last 30 years Japanese girls have become much taller, and that makes otokoyaku more handsome and attractive.

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4. What, if any, changes have you seen in Takarazuka fandom?

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These days Takarazuka fans seem to be more highly organized and disciplined than when I was there. I think it used to be a little less extreme, and very friendly and supportive. I’m still in touch with some of my fans from those days.

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5.What do you think of of overseas fandom? Is it different or the same? Are non-Japanese fans looking for the same things as Japanese fans, or completely different things?

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I know several Takarazuka fans in New York, and they seem to be much more subdued than some of the extreme fans I’ve seen in Japan. They are very supportive of those of us that have come here that they remember from Takarazuka even a long time ago.

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6) What is the secret to Takarazuka’s popularity in Japan and overseas? Have there been any changes in the way Japan relates to it?

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Takarazuka is, in a way, a mirror image of Kabuki in which men play all the roles, including the women’s roles, and the men who play women are the biggest stars. In Takarazuka women play all the roles, including the men’s roles and the women who play men are the biggest stars. Kabuki has 400 years of history in Japan, and the men who play women’s roles have inherited a long tradition of how to move, how to speak, and how to behave which is passed down from star to star over the centuries. In Takarazuka, which only has 100 years of history and a much more contemporary repertoire, the technique for the ‘Otokoyaku’ (the women who play men) is also inherited and developed by star after star. You need years of strict training and apprenticeship to work in both these traditions.

In both cases one gender is portraying a kind of idealized version of the other. I think this one of the most fascinating things about both these forms, and Takarazuka in particular – learning what men think the ideal woman is in Kabuki, or seeing women portray their ideal man in Takarazuka. Its no accident that so many women and girls wait in the huge crowds of fans to see their favorite performers after a show – they are attracted to them and sort of have crushes on them because they do represent a Japanese ideal of male beauty and gentlemanly behavior. We’re so used to seeing women through men’s eyes in this world, its refreshing to see men through women’s eyes for a change!

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Thank you very much for your time! This was fantastic.

Takarazuka will be performing Chicago at Lincoln Center this week. Tickets are still available for shows at the Lincoln Center box office, so get yours and experience the fantasy and glamour of Takarazuka for yourself!

Thanks to the folks at Lincoln Center and May Young for making this interview possible.