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Request Lounge: Maya Miki -> Natsumi You
GRAPH, July 1997
"Up until now we haven't had many chances to speak, but I heard her talking with the underclassmen and I thought she must be a warm person, so I requested her."
Natsumi You: My first impression of Miki-chan (Maya) was from the rockette number of your hatsubutai¹. You probably don't remember, do you?
Maya Miki: Eehhhh~?!
Natsumi: I told Miki-chan, "you smile very nicely", "you have a good smile."
Maya: Ah, really!?
Natsumi: I'm a fairly shy type, so I don't speak out to underclassmen, particularly hatsubutaisei², that I don't know, but I did speak out unexpectedly. I did that and you grinned and said: "Thank you." That was my very first impression. I think it's amazing that that child has gradually grown up, has not given up her individualism, and has come so far.
Maya: You knew me as a hatsubutaisei! My memories of that time are gone as much as the ones from when I was three years old, I'm sorry. (laughs)
Natsumi: Understandable, understandable.
Maya: My policy for myself has been to hold everything
Natsumi: Uwah! To hear that from you, Miki-chan!
Maya: No, no... I said it after this last show, didn't I? "Hatchi-san! What is this?" I said. I'm very moved by people who are constantly challenging themselves with various things.
Natsumi: The era is changing, so I think it's reasonable that Takarazuka can't stay as it always was. In Star Troupe the underclassmen are conservative. That's why I'm so happy to see you do amusing things — the kinds of things that make me wish I were ten years younger so that I could give them a try. Myself, right now I have a position of responsibility in the troupe, so I can't use up my time being free and uninhibited. That's why I want to tell the underclassmen to try odd things to the point of being scolded; try all kinds of things. I feel that you're an example of that kind of underclassman.
Maya: I would often get told all kinds of things (laughs).
Natsumi: Even if the underclassmen are doing something I don't get, first I let them try it. I wait and see how it works.
Maya: That's right.
Natsumi: Yes. I don't judge it by my own values. Because for me having no absolutes and changing your viewpoint are wonderful things. So I want you to continue performing in a carefree way, as you do now.
Maya: In this way, you always respect individualism, Hatchi-san. Not just in me...
Natsumi: According to the person (laughs).
Maya: Ah, I see (laughs). Meaning this conversation is over. Thank you very much (laughs).
Natsumi: Not at all, you're welcome (laughs).
Maya: (laughs) A part of you holds the old customs very seriously; isn't it amusing to seem to undermine them? Like the teasing now, for example (laughs). It's good to have that balance.
Natsumi: Not with seriousness, but by putting all my might into it as myself. That's why I'm so awkward.
Maya: And then you're quite meticulous, aren't you?
Natsumi: I do get absorbed in things. Miki-chan, you're meticulous too, aren't you?
Maya: I get absorbed in things too. Things that interest me.
Natsumi: That's right. That's why my interests are narrow and deep. What are you interested in right now?
Maya: Now would probably be reading. How To books and things on psychology.
Natsumi: Right now I have an interest in the restoration of the graveyards on Okinawa. For these four or five years I've been interested in the environs of Okinawa which have been flooded, and reading various things. Have you ever been in that area?
Maya: I've been to Yoronjima and Okinawa. That area is very mysterious.
Natsumi: It's a very graceful place. Miyakojima is interesting too.
Maya: When I went to Okinawa, I felt closer to myself.
Natsumi: Somehow it's easier to breathe.
Maya: Listening to the Okinawans chant is very calming.
Natsumi: Isn't it! I love it too. When you open the door to my place there's a shisa³ as decoration.
Maya: Me too! Ahh, what should I do? This is really unexpected (laughs). I set the highest record in Okinawa for snatching up and receiving shisa-shaped chopstick holders. I grabbed ten, for 300 yen (laughs).
Natsumi: It's a connection (laughs). But you know, that word (縁) has many meanings. Particularly when you think of the Great Hanshin Quake. The fans lived, and came to see the shows, they didn't fade away... At a time like that, when so much is happening, you could really feel the sensation of living and gaining the will to live again.
Maya: That's so. Your house was in bad shape, wasn't it? I heard "Hatchi-san is living in a house that when she's inside she can see outside." Was there a hole?
Natsumi: A 5 cm-ish hole opened up around the door to the veranda, and I could see the sky through it. I've moved from there now, though...
Maya: By any chance, would it be to the place where I used to live?
Natsumi: That's right! It was Miki's!
Maya: That's right! That's right!
Natsumi: This is a connection too. By chance I happened to be awake and reading when the earthquake hit, and the TV came down on my pillow and broke... If I'd been sleeping, I would have died. When I think like that, gaining the will to live...
Maya: I think of it too.
Natsumi: That's why when lots of things happen, it's not good to miss those kinds of encounters, because after encountering them you come to understand things, and you want to think more about the future.
Maya: Yes. Really, Hatchi-san, you're a fantastic person.
Natsumi: I'll give you a treat, something you like (laughs).
Maya: No, no (laughs). I mean it. And that comes out when you're on stage. It's impertinent for me to be the one saying such things, but....
Natsumi: At the time of the quake, Star Troupe was the first one to stand on the stage, weren't we!? The audience was thin, and they had to walk a long time to come. From these people who were worn out and who were then filled with life I heard: "I'm so glad Takarazuka is okay." When we heard those words, when we could make those people forget their pain, even if only for an hour, we were happy and healed — Through that we really felt it.
Maya: That's true. There's so much more I'd like to ask you, but I feel that I want to portion out Hatchi-san's stories in small amounts for the next time we meet. That feeling that there's something to look forward to later.... If it's all right with you, next time we have the time let's talk again; it would make me really happy.
Natsumi: Definitely me as well. Come see my shisa. And then I'll go see Miki's (laughs).
Miki: Yes. Though mine are chopstick holders (laughs).
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(1) hatsubutai (初舞台): debut performance
(2) hatsubutaisei (初舞台生): recently graduated Takarazuka Music School students who are making their debut.
(3) shisa (シーサー): Okinawan guardian lion