Differentiating Gender Roles Onstage: An Analysis of the Takarazuka Performance

The Takarazuka Revue Company is a unique musical company in Japan made up of only female performers. The performers are divided into male-role players and female-role players. Many foreign studies have examined the gender dimensions of the company. Adopting a feminist perspective, they have suggested that the Takarazuka performance—especially with regard to the male-role players—reveals new possibilities for challenging traditional gender roles.
    My examination, however, will show the opposite side and clarify how gender consciousness is reinforced through Takarazuka’s performances. Most studies on Takarazuka have focused on the male-role players and neglected the female-role players. In fact, the latter is more important from a gender perspective because the popularity of the male-role players can only be achieved based on the discrimination or marginalisation of female roles. In this study, I will analyse certain Takarazuka productions and show how the female-role players are treated onstage and offstage. Even on women-only stages, there is an unequal construction of gender.
    I will also discuss the audience’s approval of gender hierarchy. The male-role players have far more fans; moreover, their fans seem to wield a kind of power over the female-role players. It should be emphasised that most fans are also women. This preference for the male-role players among female fans is reflected in the staging itself for commercial reasons. It might be said that the Takarazuka stage and its fans contribute to the underpinnings of Japanese society’s gender consciousness.