nice day

new ear pierce with pearls. coffee 'sweet' for 75 roubles with cocoa, cream and syrup. soap bubbles in a children playground. warm may sun. and lounge playing in my earphones. a happy feeling

links! ~ Edward VIII TCA CD&DVD page

somehow I missed the day when the page was launched - even though I saw the date of release of CD&DVD (this fact should have urged me to look for something else!)... >____<

though 'tis not a huge present, a valuable thing there is a very good set of photos set with a short excerpt from the main song 

http://www.tca-pictures.net/shop/press/120223_edward8.html

I had to PrtScn them again, as the flash object is not destined to be saved as a vid or image...
I hope my screencaps are not bad...

***

to be continued with Misty Station photos!

instruction. how to buy a Takarazuka ticket if you are a foreigner ~ outdated version

upd Jan 2013
please bear in mind the ticket-selling system has changed recently. the difference is explained here
this explanation is no longer 100% valid 

whenever I face a problem which demands more than usual efforts to be solved, I feel an urgent need to write down all my actions (provided I coped with the problem)

I do this partially because I am afraid I may forget what I did, partially because I imagine myself a great lifesaver for explaining to all of you how this and that should be done, but the primary reason is that I simply love to systematize

this time I want to write about buying a ticket to Takarazuka performance. I know there is a waklthrough on TakaWiki, but I would like to write about my personal experience, and meseems, my explanation will be much longer and detailed (so be prepared)
first, I explain the situation, and the image showing exactly what the page looks like is BELOW the explanation 

the problem of buying a Zuka ticket

is a problem only for those who are not accustomed to the Japanese 生活 - erm... lifestyle? way of life? well, for those who have not spent a lot of time in Japan and are not fluent in Japanese. for those who have and are, there seems to be no problem

I shall address only those who have not and are not, as I am exactly in the middle - I know the language and the lifestyle a little, but it has not been long since I began to understand them, therefore I understand the feelings of the first ones, though strive for the second

the easiest way to get the ticket 
is to ask your Japanese friend or hotel staff to buy it for you, or buy it yourself when in Japan, but I am going to speak of the case when you have no chance of doing so due to some circumstances. well, you might have no friends, and asking for/buying a ticket only after arriving to Japan might be late
!popular performances tickets sell like hotcakes!
I shall say a few words about the availability later

the FAQ of the official Takarazuka website tells us that if we want to go to Takarazuka we should best consult our travel agency and buy a ticket via Takarazuka web-ticket system, using the pay method - credit card, and method of delivery - picking up the ticket yourself in the ticket office of the theatre you want to go to

buying a ticket

well, you might be already sure about the performance to watch and you might not care about checking the schedule so carefully, but I am going to explain the longest way. if you do not want to go through it, just go to http://ent-kageki.pia.jp/ and choose the Theatre you want to buy the ticket to
you will be able to check the schedule from that site, not visiting the main one. I shall explain it later
now if you are like me, prone to checking and rechecking, or you did not consult your Japanese friends/TakaWiki/... to choose what you want to watch, start with the main website
I use the flash version of the website as 'tis more understandable

you can simply click the 'poster' in the main part - do not forget that there are only 4 main performances displayed

if you want the list of all performances, in the upper part there is a menu, where you click the link 公演案内 (performances guide) - there is a note symbol left to it

if you click the performance you will see a lot of different links, but I am not going to explain every of them. click the link 公演詳細 (details of the performance) if you need any details, or チケット状況 (situation with the tickets) if you do not want to waste time

if you click the list of performances in the homepage menu, then search for the necessary one 
I believe you know at least what the names of the Theatres look like in kanji
宝塚大劇場 - Takarazuka Grand Theatre
東京宝塚劇場 - Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre
宝塚バウホール - Takarazuka Bow Hall
梅田芸術劇場 - Umeda Arts Theatre
メインホール - main hall (of Umeda Arts for example, or whatever)
シアター・ドラマシティ - Theatre Drama City
全国ツアー - all Japan Tour
did I miss something?

!the links are available only to the pages of performances yet to be!

well, you can click whatever of them actually, as you will be able go between Zuka and Tokyo on the performance own page (I shall explain later)

the main performances are first, the 'special' performances are in the bottom
!tickets to Tour performances and some of the special ones cannot be bought via web-ticket system!
the way to buy a ticket to a Tour performance is not described anywhere. knowing how scrupulous the Japanese are, I should admit that they would not miss this category if it were available, so unfortunately, all Japan tours are only for Japanese... haha... as for me, I was able to visit a Tour performance only because my friend bought the tickets for us (I get it that such tickets are available in ticket offices/...)

after you click the necessary link you will see
the performance own page
first you might need to see the schedule and availability of the tickets, if so - click the link　公演日程・チケット販売状況 (schedule of the performances and situation with the tickets)

or you can click the Webチケット購入 (buying the web-tickets)

if you visit the Grand Theatre page, you can see the link to Tokyo performance and vice versa
also, just up the links there are some dates provided. the fist line tells us when the performance is held, and the next line means the day when the tickets are to be sold. tickets for the show on the pic are available from March, 10th

if you go to the schedule page, there you will see
the timetable and some marks

the left column shows the dates in Japanese order - month, day, right to it - weekdays and time, then - availability info

as far as I remember,
○ stands for more than 50 tickets

△ means that there are from 10 to 50 left

× means tickets are sold out
these are usual Japanese signs for availability of anything, for example rooms in hotels, etc.

!some performances are (almost?) impossible to get tickets to!
for example, when 'Edward VIII' tickets went to general sale, there were already no vacant seats for shinjinkouen. also, there are other preferences of the fans
bear in mind that lots of Zuka fans tend to visit the theatre on weekends (what a surprise), and Friday is also a hot day for going to theatre. the unpopular days are Monday-Thursday, and the unpopular time is evening (I wonder why). in my case, two weeks after the ticketes went to sale, the only days when the S-seats were available were 2 Tuesdays, 2 Wednesdays and 1 Thursday at 6-30 PM (out of 45 performances in the whole)
!remember that while you are contemplating the pages someone can buy the tickets left!
so hurry up when you see a triangle. in my case, the triangles lasted for a week and then turned into X. therefore, when you see a triangle, be sure that the best seats are already occupied. for example, in case of 'Edward VIII', S seats on the first floor were already full when I checked the schedule - 'twas only 8-10 days after the tickets became available for buying. as for SS seats, there were none of them on the very first day of selling

on the other hand, when I was going for a Thursday performance of 'The Man from Algiers', very good A-tickets were available a week before (by very good I mean seats in the first row in the left block on the balcony - believe me that first rows on the balcony are pretty good to watch a performance)
also, I should say that while balcony central block tickets were available and marked with a triangle on the first day of general sale, a week after they were gone. in other words, triangles DO mean that there are a few tickets left
!children and minors are not supposed to go to evening performances!
however, this is only a condition of Japanese laws, and I highly doubt you would be asked about your age

other marks
there is one orange line in the schedule - it means a shinjinkouen
blue lines mean some 'reserved performance' - whom is it reserved to and how I do not know...

a star mark means that the 'Takarazuka Friends Club' has the priority of watching this performance, but should there be any tickets left after the Club buys them, they will be available to the ordinary mortals. for example, the performance of 'Edward VIII' on April, 3, was not popular among the club, so the rest of the tickets were available for buying, but only via PIA system (though when I checked the web-tickets site, they were just usual)

after you decide on the date and time, click the link 宝塚歌劇Webチケットでのご購入はこちらから！ and you will see the special website where to buy the web-tickets

so, you arrive at the website I spoke of in the very beginning

after you choose the place you will see the list of performances to be and the situation about tickets

取扱期間中 - in the middle of selling
there may be some other kind of text, for example

3/12(月)10:00発売 - the selling will start on March, 12th, at 10-00 local time

then you choose
the method of picking up your ticket

the one recommended is to pick up your ticket personally in the theatre you are going to visit (picking up there is for free). also, you can pick up tickets in special shops called PIA and Circle K (these two I do not know anything about) and in Seven Eleven which would cost 105 yen. receving in the theatres is recommended, but I am not sure you cannot choose the shops, though I did not check what is so special about them
of course, you cannot get your ticket by mail if you are not living in Japan
劇場窓口発券 - picking up in the theatre
店頭発券 - picking up in shops PIA and Circle K
セブン・イレブン発券 - receving in Seven Eleven
配送引取 - receiving by mail
also you can check availability of tickets by clicking the rose-coloured link in the upper right - it will open a new window with the same timetable I showed above

!after you buy a ticket you cannot change the place of picking it up!
therefore, think carefully of your choice. in case you choose the shops, you will have to check their location. well, if my friend's words are true, PIA shops are in plenty, Seven Eleven is also not a hard to find place

time of picking up

the theatres restrict the time to 45 minutes before the performance starts, and the only reason is that they are simply busy just before the curtain rises. as for when your ticket is ready to be picked up, 'tis 24 hours after you buy it. however, the ticket offices start printing tickets at 10 in the morning or 9-30 if the performance is at 11-00

whether the shops have a deadline or not, I cannot say, unfortunately
!there are restrictions about picking up tickets to special performances in Tokyo!
you can pick up your tickets in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre ticket office up to 3 days before the performance. 2 days before and the day before the performance picking up is not available. the day of the performance you can pick up your tickets in the ticket office of the theatre you are going to
conditions of picking up
you will need two things to pick up your tickets. when you come to the place, you will have to name your phone number and the special number of your booking (I shall explain the phone thing properly below)
then you are supposed to read the rules
do you ever read them? I do not. just agree and proceed

next you choose your seats
either by blocks or by random choosing
random is easier. just choose the type of seats and quantity
!you cannot choose some tickets of one kind and some of another!
in case you need, say, one S seat for yourself and one B seat for your friend who is not as eager to watch the performance as you, you will have to complete the procedure two times
another feature of the Japanese, who are always overly careful, is to view access to the theatre right from this page - click the orange link near the place where the place is written
!time of picking up your tickets does not influence the seat you get!
the seat is allocated to you immediately aftery you buy a ticket. in other words, just after you finish filling all the forms, you will see the seat you get. so, even if you go to pick up your ticket a month after you buy it, your seat will not be somewhere in the back rows or near the left/right edge of the audience. therefore, 'tis important when you buy the ticket, not when you pick it up

in case you prefer to choose the block
you will have to choose one of the blocks available
you can either click the block on the map, or choose from the list in the bottom
you can also see info about availability and prices on the light orange stripe
空席あり - some seats available (few or many)
空席なし - no seats available

then you choose the block by either clicking on the map or choosing from the list. for some reason you need to choose both the block and the type of seats (as if they could be different... >____<)
then choose the quantity from the list
!you can buy no more than 6 tickets to Grand Theatre and 12 to Tokyo!
should you need more, well, according to FAQ, it requires making a call and reserving tickets for a group (well, 6 people can be considered to be not-a-group, but are 12 not a HUGE group? o____O), but I would say - just buy tickets twice and go with your friend together. you will get 6/12, and your friend the same... eh?

then you proceed to filling the forms
which can seem the most difficult part, though 'tis not
the only two problems are your name and phone number
your name should be written in Japanese. of course, you have no kanji to write your name with, so
!you will have to write it in katakana somehow!
in order to do this, ask someone who know Japanese, or search for an online translator capable of doing this. if your name is a widespread one, you can use jisho.org. Google Translator is also capable of transliterating names into Japanese. I have checked some, and they were pretty good
!phone number should be a Japanese one!
actually, it does not matter what number 'tis. I used my friend's number, but I feel you can use whatever number you know, just see to it being a Japanese one. as far as I have understood, you only need it to pick up your ticket
!write the phone number down somewhere so that you do not forget it!
after you fill the forms you will be given a chance to check everything, after paying you can see your phone number once again, too, but it will not be in the confirmation emai, if only I did not miss it when reading
!you are given 5 minutes to complete the procedure!
I believe this is due to the system of selling tickets, the same goes for airlines websites, eh? someone may buy ticket simultaneously with you using web-tickets or physically, therefore they cannot allow you to keep the tickets for yourself during a long period of time not knowing if you are buying them or not, and not knowing if the tickets you are searching for are still available
the only problem here is that after 5 minutes pass, the website does not automatically redirect you or just show somehow that you have missed your turn. in my case, the next page simply did not load and I saw the usual message of my browser. after I reloaded the page the website told me that my payment may be completed, so I should check the confirmation email. I waited. the email would not come. I checked the credit card. the money was the same as before I started my adventure. thus I understood the payment was not done. if you have such troubles, you can only do the same - wait for the email and check your credit card. however I would recommend not to waste time as the payment is done in a moment and the email should come immediately (I believe it to be automatically generated), so if you have the same message about failure to load the page - just start from the beginning
!what kind of credit cards can be used!
the websites lists the cards accepted. there are plenty, but the only foreign ones among them seem to be visa and master card. am I wrong?
the 'help' section of the PIA website tells us also that a card issued abroad is not accepted. if only I beleived this warning I would not be writing all this. 'tis false. I wonder if the card with a local currency might cause some problems, though I think it to be highly unlikely. well, I had a dollar account, and no problems
well, I should clarify. it is true that cards issued abroad cannot be used in Japan, but it applies only to Japanese banks. cash dispensers in post offices and Seven Eleven ATMs are completely ok with foreign cards. as for the web-ticket system, the very meaning of it is that the payment is done without any need in banks or ATMs. therefore, 'trust but verify'

in the final stage
you see again all the info about your purchase, including the name of the show, time, place, info about yourself and your credic card, the total price, and also the seat you get
first, the orange text in the upper part tells you that the buying procedure is completed. of course, the next what you see on the page is a huge 'thank you' 
the text in red recommends you to print the page in order to have a full list of everything you might need in future. remember that not everything from this page comes to you in the confirmation email (namely, phone number does not show in the email)
also the second line in red tells you the exact time when you can go and pick your tickets
the very last blue line says thanks to you for buying the tickets again. 'tis not in the image I provide, but 'tis there

after printing/saving the info you can leave. or you can leave without doing so, as you will have almost the same info in your confirmation email. should anything be unclear, just use Google translator. I am not saying 'tis a perfect way to translate from oriental languages, but the basic things are quite understandable

!please remember that no Japanese ticket-buying system allows to change your tickets, nor will you get compensation if you return your ticket!
this may seem a wicked thing, but cancelling your ticket would only mean that you enable another person to take your place and doesn't bring your money back. should you change your plans, you will have to buy another tickets. also, there are no cooling-off periods in case you think of using them (I actually heard of them for the first time while reading the rules...)

good luck to all of you who are going to buy tickets to Takarazuka

pics! ~ Zuka desktop calendars 2012

it is a coincidence that today I have more free time and today is the 15th, which means two more Zuka calendars are uploaded on the TCA site. as always, I am too lazy to get both left and right versions, so I only provide the left once, as 'tis more convenient for me
I am not sure if I have already uploaded the pics for January and February, so I might be repeating the same ones...

p. s. Kiriya-sama on both calendars in March........ *________*

interview translation. Kiriya's last day in Grand Theatre

this time I decided to give up my proper sleep at night. so, I am trying to translate the article
hope my lack of sleeping does not affect the translation...

Interview with Kiriya Hiromu on the closing night of Moon Troupe performance in Takarazuka Grand Theatre

March, 5th, (Monday), was the closing day of the musical 'Edward VIII' -the love that cost him the crown- and brilliant stage 'Misty Station' -the terminal station in fog-.

After the performance ended, an interview concerning retirement was held

Kiriya Hiromu

'Just now, I was honoured to graduate from the Takarazuka Grand Theatre with a feeling of happiness. For me, the Takarazuka Grand Theatre is a 'home ground', and I am full of gratitude to all, for being able to come to finish so lively. I want to head the Tokyo performance polishing my skills even more, so that together with everyone we will creatre a good performance'

Q. Your feelings when you were waiting for today to come?

A. I was wondering, what I would feel heading towards this day, but I felt perfectly self-possessed and happy. The musical, farewell show, greeting, all of these I did with the same mental strain as usual, and I am releived that something is already finished. I felt that I was performing in the closing night show

Q. Reason why you chose hakama and haori for the greeting?

A. I am a male-role player, and a student of Takarazuka at the same time, therefore I decided long ago that I would like to give my greeting being able to wear a hakama for the last time

Q. How was the penlight in the audience during the farewell performance?

A. The audience was beautiful like a sea of stars. It was a moment of happiness, that I was bestowed with a chance to sing in such a space

Q. The moment you thought it was the last moment of standing in Takarazuka Grand Theatre?

A. I was not thinking that it was the last performance while playing, but when it ended and I was receiving applause on the curtain call, I was observing the audience of the theatre and I keenly felt  like 'so, I will never stand here again...'

the final day of Moon Troupe performance in Takarazuka

I was going to write this post exactly when the performance ends (approx 6 PM my local time), but I ended up sleeping. unfortunately, my getting up early in the morning had its effect...

nevertheless, I cannot miss this date

let me try and sum up what happened

there were 45 performances of the main cast, and there are 2500 seats in the Grand Theater. simple math can help us to see that

112500 people were able to watch the performance

well, in theory. in reality, there were not as many, but you can at least imagine the amount of them

on the other hand, the retiring siennas were able to experience their last show for 45 times. 'tis a commonspread topic - the case when an actor or musician or any other person of art has his last one appearance on public. what I am trying to imagine is how they should feel who were doing the same thing for 45 times (and will be doing this in Tokyo again) knowing that this particular performance is not the last yet, but every day pushes them towards the finale...

the other piece of news that seems interesting, is that

the Tokyo last day will be broadcast much wider

than the one in Takarazuka itself! unexpectedly... not only Bow Hall again, but also neighbouring Toho cinemas, namely the ones in Shibuya, Roppongi and Kawasaki

moreover, the price is competitively low - 4500 for a ticket. even an A-ticket in Zuka costs more, and 4500 is not a huge money for a Japanese, believe me. is only I were able to be in Japan on April. 22......... *_____*

what I am also surprised with is that some performances do have a very complicated structure, so that they even need

explanation provided here

'tis the corellation chart of the characters in 'Edward VIII'. to be honest, I do not even bother to read it as I am not good at remembering the names at all, so I prefer to watch and understand in the process

well, what I did bother to do was to make screenshots of official photos from the KiriMari Memorial website

they are not avaiable for saving to your computer via right-click, so I hope my work is useful

BTW, according to Rurustar Kiriya-sama will be on the cover of April Kageki issue