The Takarazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団 Takarazuka Kagekidan) began in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan in 1913 founded by Ichizo Kobayashi.
The president of Hankyu Railways, he was trying to find a way to boost sales, and began staging Western-style musical shows using only young, unmarried women. By 1924 the company had become popular and got their own theatre, the Dai Gekijō. Currently the Takarazuka shows gather an audience which totals at 2.5 million per year. Most fans of the group are young women.
The novelty of Takarazuka is that all the parts are played by women, like a mirror-image of Kabuki. The women who play male parts are referred to as otokoyaku ("male role") and those who play female parts are called musumeyaku ("daughter role"). The costume and set designs are incredibly lavish, and the performances are melodramatically emotional.
The company has six troupes: Hana, Tsuki, Hoshi, Yuki, Senka, and Sora. (Flower, Moon, Star, Snow, "Special Course", and Sky)
The company's longest-running musical is The Rose of Versailles, based on the manga of the same name by Riyoko Ikeda. The plot revolves around a young woman named Oscar de Jarjayes, who dresses as a boy and is a bodyguard for Marie Antoinette.
Consequently the troupe's existence sometimes comes up as a kind of fetish in the yuri fandom community. It also appeared to inspire the Sakura Wars series.
References
- Robertson, Jennifer Ellen. Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan. Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN 0520211502; ISBN 0520211510.
External link
The Official Takarazuka Revue Website—A brief history and information on their shows
