Hyogo Goodwill Envoy Newsletter, June 2012

Nimenhao (Hello), Goodwill Envoys! I'm Lu Zan, a new CIR from Guangdong Province, China. When I arrived in Kobe in April, it was already the second half of the month, so regrettably, I missed the lovely Japanese cherry blossoms. However, thanks to some clear weather, I fully enjoyed a brisk and comfortable spring in Japan. Here in Kobe, it was still rather cool at the end of April. Meanwhile, I heard that a hot and humid summer had already come to Guangdong.

Soon after I came to Japan, it was Golden Week. Taking this opportunity, I visited Takarazuka to fulfill a small dream of mine. In this issue, I will introduce the Takarazuka Revue – a musical troupe I love. Please enjoy my first blog post!

A surprising invitation

As Golden Week was a long holiday season, everyone seemed to have already decided how to spend it. Just when I was at a loss what to do all by myself, I received an email from a senior associate from my university who had come to Japan on a training program run by Itami City. She invited me to go to see the Takarazuka Revue together. I was really excited and agreed on the spot.  From that moment, I was really looking forward to our trip.  

What is the Takarazuka Revue?

Takarazuka Revue is a musical theater troupe consisting only of unmarried ladies, with its base in Takarazuka City, Hyogo. Since its first performance in 1914, it has been providing revues and dramas at Takarazuka Grand Theater (Takarazuka City, Hyogo) and Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), with five troupes – Flower (hana), Moon (tsuki), Snow (yuki), Star (hoshi) and Cosmos (sora) – and independent superior members (senka). All members being women, the male roles are also played by women. Actresses playing the male roles is quite unique in the world of stage performance these days, so they are extremely popular among their fans.

Let’s go and see the Takarazuka Revue

I love theatrical performances. When I was in Guangzhou, I often went to the theater to see Chinese modern dramas, and enjoyed DVDs of American Broadway musicals at home. I had seen the Takarazuka Revue on DVD, and always yearned to enjoy it first hand. I never dreamed of having such a good opportunity so soon after coming to Japan.

To get to Takarazuka from Oji-koen Station, located near my apartment, it is most convenient to use the Hankyu Railway. With my heart pounding, I soon arrived at Takarazuka. On that day, it was raining and somewhat chilly, but the big crowd of people heading for Takarazuka Grand Theater was the proof of just how popular the Takarazuka Revue is. Then the Grand Theater appeared in front of me – it was plainer than I had expected. Without any fancy decorations, it was the opposite of the gorgeous theater I had imagined.  The stage before the performance, as shown in the picture below, was also quiet with just a plain white curtain. It certainly didn't look like a gorgeous musical performance would be taking place there.

After a short time, an opening announcement was broadcast. Now the long-awaited performance was about to start! As soon as it got dark, the curtain went up and I was engrossed within a dream world. The day’s program was “Brilliant Days/Cry-Max (Climax)” by the Cosmos troupe. The top actress in the Cosmos troupe playing the role of a man, Yuhi Ozora, is retiring in July, so it might have been her last series of performances – I was very lucky to be there. 

As photography is prohibited during the performance, I just took a picture of the poster.  It is a story set in New York in the 1920s. A millionaire swindler who was once a poor immigrant disguises himself as a nobleman from Russia. He tries to acquire a Broadway theater that he longed for when he was a child. Then he meets a chorus girl at the theater, and falls in love with her. The love between the swindler and the chorus girl who believed in dreams ends in tragedy.

The background of the stage and dresses of the actresses were dazzlingly gorgeous. With their perfect performance, I was moved to tears at the tragic ending. Following “Brilliant Days,” the troupe performed a show entitled “Cry-Max (Climax)”. During the intermission, I was able to take a picture of the stage.Try to picture how brilliant the show was from this photo of the bright backstage. It was a revue of songs and dances with a great variety of performances.

Epilogue

During each and every performance, the audience was dazzled by the troupe's brilliant dresses. I was completely immersed in the beautiful songs and graceful dances, all the while being mesmerized by perfect performances and would love to see it all again. I strongly recommend that you visit Takarazuka Grand Theater and enjoy the charms that musical theater has to offer.

☆　Hyogo Events Info　★　

Soon July, the season of fireworks in Japan, will be upon us. I'd like to introduce some major firework festivals in Hyogo in order of date.

1. Hamasaka Kawasuso Festival

Date: Jul. 15, 2012 (Sun.)

Venue: Hamasaka area

The Kawasuso Festival has a long history as one of the three great festivals of the Tajima region.  Every year in mid-July, the three-day festival is held at Utsuno-jinja Shrine.  A traditional dance called Kirin-shishimai, a prefectural important intangible cultural asset which has been passed down among the locals since the mid-Edo period, is performed in dedication to the shrine.

2. Kinosaki Hot Springs “Summer Story”

Date: Jul. 23 (Mon.) – Aug. 24 (Fri.), 2012

              Yume Hiroba (Dream Square): 20:00 – 21:30 (Jul. 23 – Aug. 26)

              Yume Hanabi (Dream Fireworks): 21:00 – (Weekdays during the period above)

Venue: Kinosaki Hot Springs area

Visitors are able to enjoy a wide variety of fun events, including community fairs and performances by the local hero “Onsenger.”  There are firework displays every weekday during the period, coloring the sky of the hot spring resort.

3. Takeno Sea Fireworks Festival

Date: Jul. 30, 2012 (Mon.)

Venue: Takenohama beach

With many aerial fireworks and set fireworks coloring the midsummer night sky, the festival is very popular as a seasonal summer event.  The reflection of the fireworks on the water along with the roaring sound is quite spectacular. Laser beams are also used in the display. This festival started in 1970 and has become one of the largest firework festivals in Hyogo, attracting 30,000-40,000 visitors annually.

For information on firework festivals, please refer to:

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp

Hello from Hyogo!

Konnichi wa and welcome to Hyogo Friendship Network, a blog for anyone interested in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan! Whether you've visited Hyogo Prefecture, lived or worked here or simply want to know more about what this fascinating prefecture has to offer, this blog is the place for you. 

In this blog, which will be mainly written in English, we’ll strive to reach as many people as we can, but at the same time we’ll have a particular emphasis on our network of Hyogo Goodwill Envoys.  

This blog will be operated by Hyogo Prefecture's six Coordinators for International Relations (CIR) who will take it in turns to bring you info on Hyogo's lively festivals, fascinating destinations and oishii cuisine, as well as tell you a little bit about our work, day-to-day lives in addition various other topics, depending on what we want to share with you (we’re planning to write a few pieces on Kansai-ben!).

To give you a glimpse of what you will find on this blog in the upcoming months, we’ll post a few articles on our trip to the Tohoku region and our French CIR Jérémy, who will have completed the maximum five years as a CIR next month, will give us some thoughts about his time spent in Hyogo, now his adopted hometown (daini no furusato) !

Hyogo Friendship Network is actually an extension of another blog that was started 2 years ago. It’s regularly updated and works pretty well but it’s almost entirely in Japanese and we find it quite inconvenient for content written in English. It really became necessary for us to have a place where we could express ourselves and share information in a more-than-just-Japanese-language environment.

Last but not least, we’ve also created a Facebook group (Hyogo Friendship Network on FB), so keeping in touch and sharing your pictures and anecdotes from your time in Hyogo will be even easier! 

We'd love to hear your comments and suggestions, so please feel free to contact us at [hyogo.friendshipnet at gmail.com] or leave us a comment directly on the blog or on our FB page. 

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!  

Ben (UK)

Luciana (Brazil)

Liz (US)

Bokyung (Korea)

Lu (China)

Jérémy (France)