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Okay, since Kyoto was yesterday, I wanted to get that post done first before I started on today, breaking up the posts because of image-heavyness. (and, a note for me, 8-ish am over there, 9-ish pm over here)
Today we saw Takarazuka.
Let me explain. This is something I've been dying to see ever since I heard about it. Donna's friend Jen asked if we were interested on seeing the show playing today with her and my immediate YES YES YES drowned out anything Donna could possibly have said. (By the way, Meira? Ouran's Zuka club? Not an exaggeration. If anything, the representation was TAME.)
A very cool thing about Takarazuka (all-female theatre) is the fandom. There are fan clubs for the stars and the fandom is huge. To best explain, I am copy-pasting Donna's description of it because she's cooler than me and I can't even think of a better way to put it.
The girls in the salmon shirts are some members of a certain star's fanclub. They know their star is on her way, so they are currently crouched down with cameras at the ready. They are crouched down so other people can see. Once their star arrives, there is polite fanfare, an exchange of love letters and prizes (Adiva, being tall and brave, went in and got some good shots!) and then? Then? Team Salmon gets up and leaves in single file, and another star's fanclub takes their place and does the same thing.
It is amazing. No screaming, no rough-housing, no mauling of the celebrities.
It was the most polite group of fans I've ever seen in my whole life. The groups line up on the street in accordance to seniority; the greater their star's status, the farther up the street the fans get to line up. Once a group's "star" has come and gone, they, as Donna said, get up and leave in single-file and the next-senior group files into place, assuming the same crouched positions. (Explained by Jen:) Each fanclub has a symbol that they wear to signify they belong to the group--usually it's something their star has worn or is known for wearing. The salmon-shirt group's star actually showed up in the same shirt.
And then the actual arrival of the stars is a thing to behold in itself.
A star arrives. This particular girl is an otokoyaku (player of male roles) star, and they're the ones who normally have the largest fanclubs. Notice the black scarves? That's this fanclub's symbol for this show. This girl is actually a higher-ranked otokoyaku, so not only does she have a large fanclub, but she arrived by car.
And has someone to carry her bags. Carrying the bags is a privilege. This woman is most likely a staff member of the otokoyaku's fanclub.
Since today was March 14th, aka White Day, a lot of the stars brought chocolates for their fans. See the woman getting that one, how happy she is? After giving out the chocolates, this star went back through the line and collected the tokens or love letters or whatever else the fans brought for her that day. I'd also like to, just for a second, bring your attention to that group in the back. See them? The huge group of people wearing the pink-purple scarves? They're the fanclub for The top Otokoyaku Chie-san, the lead male role in this show. Now, once again,
Yeah.
Anyway, back to this oyokoyaku, that's her just talking to the fans for a few seconds and smiling for them before moving on to the theatre to get into costume. Oh, and that thing she's holding? I thought it was a teddy bear at first. It's not. It's a dog. A tiny, tiny dog. There were at least two other stars that I saw that just brought tiny dogs with them. I...don't know why. The new accessory I guess.
Just another example of the stars greeting their fans, and the fan uniform. I...think this girl was a musumeyaku (player of female roles) but don't quote me on that because it's entirely possible that I'm wrong. Edit: Yeah, I was wrong. She's also an otokoyaku.
THE top star arrives, and begins making her down her fanclub line.
And down. All those people are presenting her with letters. Of luck, admiration, love confession--whatever they all were, she had a good stack by the time she was done. And this happens every day.
Not the best picture, but see the age range of the fans? Many are middle-aged or older woman, although there are many young fans too. And look how happy they all are. Amazing.
After the stars were all inside, the groups dissipated until the start of the performance. We all bought our tickets ad when it was finally time to go inside, well.
The performance itself was really cool. The Chie-san was phenomenal. Her voice, the way she spoke and moved, her singing--all amazing. Jen, Takarazuka fan that she is, had a pair of binoculars that I borrowed when she wasn't using them to close up on the expressions and costumes and just. Wow.
We saw a show called Bolero a more subdued show (but still cool to watch) and really easy to follow, even with the language barriers. Takarazuka shows have two parts. The actual plot-performance, then intermission, and then part 2, the revue. With crazy costumes and lights and dance numbers and crazy costumes and there was a LOT OF SPARKLE. And feathers. A LOT OF FEATHERS. (Meira, I repeat, Ouran? NOT EXAGGERATED.) It was just a really cool experience. And something I'd never get in America because an all-female theatre? Gasp! What sort of things go on behind the scenes! What is it representing? Ugh, it's just so--urg. Not dwelling on it. Back to the cool.
After the show, Jen went back home and Donna and I headed out to Shibuya. Shibuya is BUSY. Shibuya is BRIGHT. Shibuya is NUTS.
It is also where I finally found a small fruit shop and bought an apple. A large-sized apple, but it certainly isn't a lie to say fruit is really expensive. 120JPY! I'm saving it for tomorrow. Can't wait~! (I am totally going to stuff myself on broccoli and carrots and apples and not!pickled sweet-potato when I go home.) But I digress. Back to Shibuya.
This is The Crossing, a famous intersection. There is a reason it is famous.
No parade or anything here. These are all people crossing the street. At the same time. Luckily I am tall(ish) and was able to hold up my camera for this shot. But ohman you could get swept away in the tide or something.
We sort of had to. I mean really. It also seemed like the perfect opportunity for another "In Japan!" moment, so...
Hee. This couple was standing to the side, and as Donna held up the side, he jumps into the picture and copies her. He went away but we made him come back and actually pose again (I love that he's on the phone). Then they took a picture of us together.
I gave him a postcard.
By this time it was almost five o'clock, and both of us were hungry, so we stopped in this Italian-kinda-upscale-but-not-expensive place run by two men, one of which who was half Italian, half French, and who also spoke Japanese. That was neat (envyyyy).
Ordered minestrone soup which was delicious and I needed something vegetable heavy (want mooore) and each of us ordered a personal made-in-a-fire-oven pizza. At least, we thought they personal and they sort of were but they were also ginormous. Delicious, but ginormous. Luckily, we were both very hungry. Those pizzas got eaten man.
And that was Shibuya. And experiencing Takarazuka. Would so see something again.
Tomorrow we're going to Jen's place in Ota and she's taking us to an onsen! I'm not really one for hot soaks, but I think it might do my neck and back some good, especially considering the stress I've been putting on them from walking so much. Not that I regret a step!
Today we saw Takarazuka.
Let me explain. This is something I've been dying to see ever since I heard about it. Donna's friend Jen asked if we were interested on seeing the show playing today with her and my immediate YES YES YES drowned out anything Donna could possibly have said. (By the way, Meira? Ouran's Zuka club? Not an exaggeration. If anything, the representation was TAME.)
A very cool thing about Takarazuka (all-female theatre) is the fandom. There are fan clubs for the stars and the fandom is huge. To best explain, I am copy-pasting Donna's description of it because she's cooler than me and I can't even think of a better way to put it.
The girls in the salmon shirts are some members of a certain star's fanclub. They know their star is on her way, so they are currently crouched down with cameras at the ready. They are crouched down so other people can see. Once their star arrives, there is polite fanfare, an exchange of love letters and prizes (Adiva, being tall and brave, went in and got some good shots!) and then? Then? Team Salmon gets up and leaves in single file, and another star's fanclub takes their place and does the same thing.
It is amazing. No screaming, no rough-housing, no mauling of the celebrities.
It was the most polite group of fans I've ever seen in my whole life. The groups line up on the street in accordance to seniority; the greater their star's status, the farther up the street the fans get to line up. Once a group's "star" has come and gone, they, as Donna said, get up and leave in single-file and the next-senior group files into place, assuming the same crouched positions. (Explained by Jen:) Each fanclub has a symbol that they wear to signify they belong to the group--usually it's something their star has worn or is known for wearing. The salmon-shirt group's star actually showed up in the same shirt.
And then the actual arrival of the stars is a thing to behold in itself.
A star arrives. This particular girl is an otokoyaku (player of male roles) star, and they're the ones who normally have the largest fanclubs. Notice the black scarves? That's this fanclub's symbol for this show. This girl is actually a higher-ranked otokoyaku, so not only does she have a large fanclub, but she arrived by car.
And has someone to carry her bags. Carrying the bags is a privilege. This woman is most likely a staff member of the otokoyaku's fanclub.
Since today was March 14th, aka White Day, a lot of the stars brought chocolates for their fans. See the woman getting that one, how happy she is? After giving out the chocolates, this star went back through the line and collected the tokens or love letters or whatever else the fans brought for her that day. I'd also like to, just for a second, bring your attention to that group in the back. See them? The huge group of people wearing the pink-purple scarves? They're the fanclub for The top Otokoyaku Chie-san, the lead male role in this show. Now, once again,
Yeah.
Anyway, back to this oyokoyaku, that's her just talking to the fans for a few seconds and smiling for them before moving on to the theatre to get into costume. Oh, and that thing she's holding? I thought it was a teddy bear at first. It's not. It's a dog. A tiny, tiny dog. There were at least two other stars that I saw that just brought tiny dogs with them. I...don't know why. The new accessory I guess.
Just another example of the stars greeting their fans, and the fan uniform. I...think this girl was a musumeyaku (player of female roles) but don't quote me on that because it's entirely possible that I'm wrong. Edit: Yeah, I was wrong. She's also an otokoyaku.
THE top star arrives, and begins making her down her fanclub line.
And down. All those people are presenting her with letters. Of luck, admiration, love confession--whatever they all were, she had a good stack by the time she was done. And this happens every day.
Not the best picture, but see the age range of the fans? Many are middle-aged or older woman, although there are many young fans too. And look how happy they all are. Amazing.
After the stars were all inside, the groups dissipated until the start of the performance. We all bought our tickets ad when it was finally time to go inside, well.
The performance itself was really cool. The Chie-san was phenomenal. Her voice, the way she spoke and moved, her singing--all amazing. Jen, Takarazuka fan that she is, had a pair of binoculars that I borrowed when she wasn't using them to close up on the expressions and costumes and just. Wow.
We saw a show called Bolero a more subdued show (but still cool to watch) and really easy to follow, even with the language barriers. Takarazuka shows have two parts. The actual plot-performance, then intermission, and then part 2, the revue. With crazy costumes and lights and dance numbers and crazy costumes and there was a LOT OF SPARKLE. And feathers. A LOT OF FEATHERS. (Meira, I repeat, Ouran? NOT EXAGGERATED.) It was just a really cool experience. And something I'd never get in America because an all-female theatre? Gasp! What sort of things go on behind the scenes! What is it representing? Ugh, it's just so--urg. Not dwelling on it. Back to the cool.
After the show, Jen went back home and Donna and I headed out to Shibuya. Shibuya is BUSY. Shibuya is BRIGHT. Shibuya is NUTS.
It is also where I finally found a small fruit shop and bought an apple. A large-sized apple, but it certainly isn't a lie to say fruit is really expensive. 120JPY! I'm saving it for tomorrow. Can't wait~! (I am totally going to stuff myself on broccoli and carrots and apples and not!pickled sweet-potato when I go home.) But I digress. Back to Shibuya.
This is The Crossing, a famous intersection. There is a reason it is famous.
No parade or anything here. These are all people crossing the street. At the same time. Luckily I am tall(ish) and was able to hold up my camera for this shot. But ohman you could get swept away in the tide or something.
We sort of had to. I mean really. It also seemed like the perfect opportunity for another "In Japan!" moment, so...
Hee. This couple was standing to the side, and as Donna held up the side, he jumps into the picture and copies her. He went away but we made him come back and actually pose again (I love that he's on the phone). Then they took a picture of us together.
I gave him a postcard.
By this time it was almost five o'clock, and both of us were hungry, so we stopped in this Italian-kinda-upscale-but-not-expensive place run by two men, one of which who was half Italian, half French, and who also spoke Japanese. That was neat (envyyyy).
Ordered minestrone soup which was delicious and I needed something vegetable heavy (want mooore) and each of us ordered a personal made-in-a-fire-oven pizza. At least, we thought they personal and they sort of were but they were also ginormous. Delicious, but ginormous. Luckily, we were both very hungry. Those pizzas got eaten man.
And that was Shibuya. And experiencing Takarazuka. Would so see something again.
Tomorrow we're going to Jen's place in Ota and she's taking us to an onsen! I'm not really one for hot soaks, but I think it might do my neck and back some good, especially considering the stress I've been putting on them from walking so much. Not that I regret a step!
Tags:
Ridiculously envious
The relationship between fan and celebrity is so awesome there. Why can we not understand such a thing here? (*sigh*) Paparazzi=unnecessary
Ugh, your back. Please take care of it.
So much incredibleness. Have fun in Ota!
:0)Brittany
no subject
And you DO realize that we're going to have you go through every post and describe your trip in mega-detail after you get back?
(Nana already is planning for you to meet the Berg's, who go to Japan on a regular basis...)
no subject
What, more detail? This isn't enough detail?
(Has Nana been reading the posts? Has she been liking them?)