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Takarazuka: sexual politics and popular culture in modern Japan

Jennifer Robertson

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Cover
Title Page
Copyright and Permissions
Dedication
Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
- FIRST IMPRESSIONS
- REVIEWING THE REVUE
- THE CALL OF DUTY
- GENDERING PERFORMANCE
- NOMENCLATURE
- STATION BREAK
- PREVIEWING THE BOOK
1 Ambivalence and Popular Culture
- EXCESS AND POPULAR CULTURE
- IDEOLOGIES OF POPULAR CULTURE
- JAPANESE TERMINOLOGY
- UBIQUITY VERSUS POPULARITY
- SEXUALITY AND AMBIVALENCE
- THE OFFICIAL STORY
2 Staging Androgyny
- DISRUPTING STEREOTYPES
- WORDS AND USAGES
- CROSS-DRESSING HISTORICALLY
- CONCEPTUALIZING ANDROGYNY
- METHODS OF ANDROGYNY
- FEMALE SEXUALITIES AND THE "WOMAN PROBLEM"
- ANDROGYNY AS ERASURE
- POSTWAR ANDROGYNY
- ANDROGYNY REVUE
- ANDROGYNY AS AMBIVALENCE
3 Performing Empire
- MADE IN JAPAN
- ASSIMILATION ONSTAGE AND OFF
- JAPANESE ORIENTALISM
- COLONIALISM AS THEATER, THEATER AS COLONIALISM
- INTERMISSION: FROM MON PARIS TO MON JAPON
- SITING THEATER
- REVUE THEATER AS MONTAGE
- CLAIMING "THE PEOPLE" THEATRICALLY
- JAPANIZING THE THEATER
- ORIENTALISM: MADE IN JAPAN
- IDENTITY AND ASSIMILATION
- MON PARIS, MON JAPON
4 Fan Pathology
- FANDOM
- DISCIPLINING AUDIENCES
- FANNING DESIRE
- MISS DANDIES
- CLAIMING A FEMALE AUDIENCE
- ENTER THE SHOJO
- FAN CLUBS
- MALE FANS
- SISTER
5 Writing Fans
- FAN LETTERS AND MAGAZINES
- WRITING SHŌJO
- SUICIDE AND FANDOM
- FAN EROTICS
- NEW HALF
- ANYTHING GAOS?
Epilogue
- STRATEGIC AMBIVALENCE
Notes
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER 1 AMBIVALENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE
- CHAPTER 2 STAGING ANDROGYNY
- CHAPTER 3 PERFORMING EMPIRE
- CHAPTER 4 FAN PATHOLOGY
- CHAPTER 5 WRITING FANS
- EPILOGUE
Bibliography
- JAPANESE SOURCES
- ENGLISH AND OTHER SOURCES
Index

Reviews
Journal Abbreviation	Label	URL
JJS	25.2 (Summer 1999): 473-478	http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0095-6848%28199922%2925%3A2%3C473%3ATSPAPC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O
JRAI	6.2 (Jun. 2000): 333-334	http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1359-0987%28200006%296%3A2%3C333%3ATSPAPC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E
MN	54.4 (Winter 1999): 571-573	http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-0741%28199924%2954%3A4%3C571%3ATSPAPC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23
PA	73.1 (Spring 2000): 128-129	http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-851X%28200021%2973%3A1%3C128%3ATSPAPC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I
JAS	59.3 (Aug. 2000): 753-755	http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9118%28200008%2959%3A3%3C753%3ATSPAPC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B

Citable Link

Published: 2008

Publisher: University of California Press

ISBN(s)

9780520211513 (paper)

Subject

Women's Studies

Resources

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Asaji Saki. The Star Troupe otokoyaku in her offstage clothing. From Takarazuka Gurafu (1987).

Asaji Saki. The Star Troupe otokoyaku in her offstage clothing. From Takarazuka Gurafu (1987).

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Five types of Takarazuka fans. From left to right: "courtesan," "early bird," "poetic," "bodyguard," and "copycat." From Hirabayashi (1935).

Five types of Takarazuka fans. From left to right: "courtesan," "early bird," "poetic," "bodyguard," and "copycat." From Hirabayashi (1935).

Sayo Fukuko. From The Takarazuka: Takarazuka kageki 8oshunen kinen (1994:114).

Sayo Fukuko. From The Takarazuka: Takarazuka kageki 8oshunen kinen (1994:114).

She-Male. "I know it must be a shock, but I'm a She-Male. Oh no! It's stood up!" From Watanabe Tsuneo (1990:87).

She-Male. "I know it must be a shock, but I'm a She-Male. Oh no! It's stood up!" From Watanabe Tsuneo (1990:87).

Takarazuka uniforms: Wartime and current. Top, Takarasiennes posing in their "national defense color" uniforms introduced in 1939, which served as the prototype for today's military-like uniforms worn by Academy students, bottom. As evident from their haircuts, the students are assigned their secondary genders at the end of their first semester at the Academy. From Hagiwara (1954:21) and Ueda (1986 [1976]: cover).

Takarazuka uniforms: Wartime and current. Top, Takarasiennes posing in their "national defense color" uniforms introduced in 1939, which served as the prototype for today's military-like uniforms worn by Academy students, bottom. As evident from their haircuts, the students are assigned their secondary genders at the end of their first semester at the Academy. From Hagiwara (1954:21) and Ueda (1986 [1976]: cover).

heb94082.0027-lg.jpg

"South Seas Dance." A newspaper photograph published in 1943 of a group of Japanese soldiers in Burma performing, as the sign indicates, the "East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere South Seas Dance." From Hosokawa Shuhei (1992:146).

"South Seas Dance." A newspaper photograph published in 1943 of a group of Japanese soldiers in Burma performing, as the sign indicates, the "East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere South Seas Dance." From Hosokawa Shuhei (1992:146).

The Golden Wings. Asami Rei as Vittorio Ala d'Oro and Ichiro Maki as Clarice. From Hashimoto (1994:130).

The Golden Wings. Asami Rei as Vittorio Ala d'Oro and Ichiro Maki as Clarice. From Hashimoto (1994:130).

Mizunoe Takiko (Takii) of the Shōchiku Revue. From Ikita koishita onna no ioonen (1988:44).

Mizunoe Takiko (Takii) of the Shōchiku Revue. From Ikita koishita onna no ioonen (1988:44).

Peking finale. The finale of this 1942 production featured the "Dance of the Five-Color Flag," which symbolized the unity of north and central China under Japan. From Takarazuka Kagekidan (1943:15).

Peking finale. The finale of this 1942 production featured the "Dance of the Five-Color Flag," which symbolized the unity of north and central China under Japan. From Takarazuka Kagekidan (1943:15).

"Person of the Southern Region." This cartoon appeared in Osaka Puck in December 1942 as part of a before-and-after sequence depicting Asia under Western domination and after Japanese liberation. From Dower (1986:200).

"Person of the Southern Region." This cartoon appeared in Osaka Puck in December 1942 as part of a before-and-after sequence depicting Asia under Western domination and after Japanese liberation. From Dower (1986:200).

Egyptian royalty in Mon Paris. A scene from the Snow Troupe's 1947 performance of Mon Paris featuring the court of the Cleopatra-like queen. From Hashimoto (1994:67).

Egyptian royalty in Mon Paris. A scene from the Snow Troupe's 1947 performance of Mon Paris featuring the court of the Cleopatra-like queen. From Hashimoto (1994:67).

Masuda Yasumare. Left, Masuda with her "Lloyd" spectacles; right, without them. From Tani (1935:251) and Nakano (1935:162).

Masuda Yasumare. Left, Masuda with her "Lloyd" spectacles; right, without them. From Tani (1935:251) and Nakano (1935:162).

Takarazuka today: The Snow Troupe in the finale of La Passion (Ra passhon, 1989). The beplumed cast—the leading actors are wearing white—stand in front of and on the Revue's trademark giant, illuminated staircase. From Hashimoto (1994:138).

Takarazuka today: The Snow Troupe in the finale of La Passion (Ra passhon, 1989). The beplumed cast—the leading actors are wearing white—stand in front of and on the Revue's trademark giant, illuminated staircase. From Hashimoto (1994:138).

The "train dance" in Mon Paris. The "train" in the 1927 production of Mon Paris consists of a row of twenty-three actors, legs extended, linked hand on elbow so as to resemble the drivers connecting the wheels of a chugging steam engine (and wheels decorate the legs of their white trousers). Kushida, the protagonist, is clutching a carpet bag and umbrella in his left hand and grasping the right shoulder of the last "wheel" with his right as he leaves Marseilles for Paris. The train reappears in the last scene when Kushida reminds the audience that he has overseen their safe arrival in Paris and bids them good cheer (Waga pari yo 1927:30-31). From Hashimoto (1988:18).

The "train dance" in Mon Paris. The "train" in the 1927 production of Mon Paris consists of a row of twenty-three actors, legs extended, linked hand on elbow so as to resemble the drivers connecting the wheels of a chugging steam engine (and wheels decorate the legs of their white trousers). Kushida, the protagonist, is clutching a carpet bag and umbrella in his left hand and grasping the right shoulder of the last "wheel" with his right as he leaves Marseilles for Paris. The train reappears in the last scene when Kushida reminds the audience that he has overseen their safe arrival in Paris and bids them good cheer (Waga pari yo 1927:30-31). From Hashimoto (1988:18).

Kabuki onnagata. Hanayagi Shōtarō in the role of a young woman. From Engei Gahō (1942:n.p.).

Kabuki onnagata. Hanayagi Shōtarō in the role of a young woman. From Engei Gahō (1942:n.p.).

The early Revue with and without whiteface. Right, a scene from Five Daughters (Gonin musume, 1920) with the childlike actors in whiteface. Opposite, in 1930 the application of whiteface was discontinued, and the Revue's cast appeared more adult, as evident in the scene from Rosarita (Rosariita, 1936). From The Takarazuka: Takarazuka kageki 8oshūnen kinen (1994:84) and Hagiwara (1954:13).

The early Revue with and without whiteface. Right, a scene from Five Daughters (Gonin musume, 1920) with the childlike actors in whiteface. Opposite, in 1930 the application of whiteface was discontinued, and the Revue's cast appeared more adult, as evident in the scene from Rosarita (Rosariita, 1936). From The Takarazuka: Takarazuka kageki 8oshūnen kinen (1994:84) and Hagiwara (1954:13).

Yoshiya Nobuko and Kobayashi Ichizō. The setting is Yoshiya's home in Kamakura, a seaside resort south of Tokyo. From Maruo (1981:2).

Yoshiya Nobuko and Kobayashi Ichizō. The setting is Yoshiya's home in Kamakura, a seaside resort south of Tokyo. From Maruo (1981:2).