Happy Women's Map　兵庫県　宝塚歌劇団伝説の男役「白薔薇のプリンス」　春日野 八千代　女史

-宝塚歌劇 / Takarazuka Revue

「天国にいる方々に約束します。永久に、清く正しく美しい宝塚の再建に尽くすことを。」
"I promise to those in heaven. To eternally dedicate myself to the pure, righteous, and beautiful reconstruction of Takarazuka."

春日野 八千代　女史
Ms. Yachiyo Kasugano
1915 -  2012
兵庫県神戸市　生誕
Born in Kobe-city, Hyogo-ken

春日野八千代女史は宝塚歌劇団伝説の男役「白薔薇のプリンス」として、戦前・戦中・戦後の女性達が夢見る「永遠の二枚目」を生涯現役で演じました。一番最初に「宝塚歌劇の殿堂」入りを果たします。
Ms. Kasugano Yachiyo is a legendary male role performer in the Takarazuka Revue, known as the "Prince of the White Roses." She portrayed the eternal romantic hero that women dreamed of, both before and after World War II. She continued to perform in this role throughout her career, remaining active until the end. She was the first to be inducted into the "Takarazuka Revue of Fame."

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「お気に入りはフレッド・アステアと十五代目市村羽左衛門」
春日野八千代こと石井吉子は1915年に兵庫県神戸市に生まれ、父の仕事の関係で横浜、神戸、大阪、岡山県高梁と移って大阪の九条第五尋常高等小学校を卒業。昭和初頭の不景気の中にあって、宝塚少女歌劇団は歌が好きな良家の少女を水準以上の俸給で募集、音楽教育以外に人間教育や躾にも責任を持つことで人気でした。さらに良子の父親は宝塚少女歌劇団の創始者小林一三をたいへん尊敬していて、ならびに吉子の虚弱体質を心配する母親は宝塚歌劇団のダンスや日本舞踊の科目に関心を持ちます。吉子は宝塚音楽歌劇学校に入学して予科を修了後、16歳の時に花組で初舞台を踏みます。吉子は声楽・ダンス・演技を学びながら、映画館・劇場に足しげく通って洋画・オペラ・歌舞伎から男役の芸を研究します。お気に入りはフレッド・アステアと十五代目市村羽左衛門。さらに日本舞踊の稽古に通い花柳流の名取になります。少女歌劇団は大正デモクラシー時代の新たな娯楽・慰安としてたくさんの観客を魅了しますが、徐々に戦時色が強い演目が増えます。太平洋戦争がはじまると、やがて宝塚大劇場及び劇団施設は海軍に接収され予科練兵舎に、東京宝塚劇場は陸軍に接収され風船爆弾の工場に用いられます。その最後の舞台『勧進帳/翼の決戦』に吉子は主演を務め、ファンが押し寄せ劇場から宝塚南口駅まで約１キロの長蛇の列を作ります。さらに吉子はじめ生徒またスタッフらはめげることなく「移動演劇隊」として日本全国の軍需工場や病院ならびに北京や満州などの戦地を慰問のために巡演します。
「白薔薇のプリンス」
終戦後はGHQに対して嘆願書ならびに慰問公演を行い、宝塚大劇場を取り戻します。吉子は『カルメン』『春のをどり・愛の夢』の再開の舞台の壇上で挨拶します。「天国にいる方々に約束します。永久に、清く正しく美しい宝塚の再建に尽くすことを」。さらに、長い間タブーとされていた『源氏物語』の劇化が解禁され、歌舞伎の市川海老蔵、映画の長谷川一夫、宝塚歌劇団の春日野八千代とで源氏の君を競い合います。白薔薇のプリンスとして、糸井しだれ、深緑夏代、月丘夢路、浅茅しのぶ、朝倉道子、新珠三千代、桜町公子、由美あづさ、南悠子、八千草薫、有馬稲子、鳳八千代、浜木綿子、扇千景、加茂さくら、梓真弓、上原まり、松本悠里、乙羽信子、故里明美、明石照子、寿美花代、淀かほる、那智わたるなど、70人余りの女役と舞台上で愛を語りながら、生涯現役を貫きます。宝塚市文化功労賞、宝塚市名誉市民、兵庫県文化賞、紫綬褒章、勲四等宝冠章など授与され、96歳で逝去。宝塚市において歌劇団葬が営まれファンや卒業生など約1000人が参列、一番最初に「宝塚歌劇の殿堂」入りを果たします。１９５８年花組公演中に舞台装置の不備で非業の死を遂げたタカラジェンヌ・香月弘美さんの慰霊祭と慰霊碑のために歌劇団ならびにOGを取りまとめたと語り継がれています。

“My favorites are Fred Astaire and Uzaemon Ichimura the 15th.”
Kasugano Yachiyo, also known as Yoshiko Ishii, was born in 1915 in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. Due to her father's job, she moved to various places including Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, and Takahashi in Okayama Prefecture, and eventually graduated from the Kyujo No. 5 Elementary School in Osaka. During the early Showa period, when the economy was in a downturn, the Takarazuka Revue was recruiting young girls from respectable families who had a love for singing, offering them salaries above the average level. The popularity of the revue was not just due to musical education but also its responsibility for moral and etiquette education.  Furthermore, Yoshiko's father greatly admired the founder of the Takarazuka Revue, Ichizo Kobayashi. Her mother, concerned about Yoshiko's frail health, became interested in dance and Japanese traditional dance. Yoshiko enrolled in the Takarazuka Music and Drama School, completed the preparatory course, and made her debut on stage at the age of 16 as part of the Hanagumi (Flower Troupe).  While studying vocal music, dance, and acting, Yoshiko frequently goes to movie theaters and theaters to study the techniques of male actors from Western movies, opera, and kabuki. My favorites are Fred Astaire and Ichimura Uzaemon the 15th. She also practiced Japanese traditional dance to become a professional dancer of the Hanayagi school. The Takarazuka Revue, as a new form of entertainment and relaxation during the early Showa Democracy era, attracted numerous audiences. However, as the wartime atmosphere grew stronger, the repertoire gradually shifted towards militaristic themes. When the Pacific War began, the Takarazuka Grand Theater and the company's facilities were requisitioned by the Navy, serving as a training facility. The Tokyo Takarazuka Theater was also seized by the Army and used as a factory for balloon bombs. In her final performance, "Kanjincho / Tsubasa no Kessen" (The Subscription List / Battle of the Wings), Yoshiko played the leading role, drawing a long line of fans from the theater to the Takarazuka-Minamiguchi Station, covering about one kilometer. Furthermore, Yoshiko and other students and staff members did not give up. They formed a "traveling theater troupe" and toured factories, hospitals, and war zones across Japan, including Beijing and Manchuria, to provide entertainment and comfort to the people there. 
"White Rose Prince"
After the war, they submitted petitions to the GHQ (General Headquarters of the Allied Forces) and held consolation performances, eventually regaining control of the Takarazuka Grand Theater. On the reopening stages of "Carmen" and "Haru no Odori Ai no Yume" (Carmen and Dance of Spring, Dream of Love), Yoshiko addressed the audience, saying, "I promise those in heaven that I will devote myself to the reconstruction of Takarazuka, to be forever pure, righteous, and beautiful." Moreover, the long-taboo dramatization of "Genji Monogatari" (The Tale of Genji) was allowed, and Yoshiko competed for the role of Genji against Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo, film actor Kazuo Hasegawa, and the Takarazuka Revue's Yachiyo Harugano. As the "Prince of the White Rose," alongside numerous female roles including Itoi Shidare, Midori Natsuyo, Tsukio Yumeji, Asaji Shinobu, Michiko Asakura, Choshiko Asaka, Yumi Azusa, Yuuko Minagawa, Kaoru Yachigusa, Inako Aramako, Chiyoyo Hojo, Kamo Sakura, Mami Azumi, Mariko Uehara, Yuri Matsumoto, Shinko Mihashi, Hisako Myojin, Teruko Akashi, Toshihana Kotone, Yodo Kahoru, Nachi Wataru, and many others, she continued to perform actively throughout her life. She received various awards and honors, including the Takarazuka City Cultural Achievement Award, the title of Honorary Citizen of Takarazuka City, the Hyogo Prefecture Cultural Award, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th Class, and more. She passed away at the age of 96, and a Takarazuka Revue funeral was held in Takarazuka City, attended by approximately 1,000 fans and alumni. She was the first to be honored with entry into the "Takarazuka Revue of Fame." In 1958, there was a tragic incident during a performance by the Hanagumi troupe, where Takarazuka Revue's actress Hiroemi Kagetsu lost her life due to a stage equipment malfunction. It is remembered that she took the lead in organizing a memorial service and a memorial monument for Hiroemi Kagetsu.

-宝塚歌劇　Takarazuka Revue
-タカラヅカ・スカイステージ　Takarazuka Sky Stage

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