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YAMATO DENSHI / WORLD EDITION
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← All storiesYAMATO DENSHI Special Feature / Meiji Challenger

Building a life beyond the railway: how Ichizo Kobayashi gave people a reason to go out.

Published Publisher 大和伝志Editorial principles

A swimming venue became a place that captured people’s imaginations.

On April 1, 1914, the first performance of the Takarazuka Girls' Opera took place. The venue was Paradise Theater, a converted pool. Official records say that the premiere included ``Donburako'' and other performances, and the performance was free.[3]

This departure scene has the freedom of not deciding how the building will be used. If you only look at its role as a pool, it may be a facility that has become useless. However, if you look at it as a space where people can gather and enjoy the same time, other possibilities open up.

Interpreting YAMATO DENSHI

Set aside an existing label and reconsider the possibilities.

'Conference room', 'Sales area', 'Closed days'. When something has a name, it is easy to fix its purpose. If you want to use Takarazuka's departure as a hint, consider reconsidering the places and times you have at hand, starting with their functions. Spacious, quiet, and people pass by. The moment you rephrase it, you may find another use for it.

However, if you set the stage in an empty building, culture won't grow right away. In Takarazuka, schools and theater companies have been put in place and performances will continue.[3] To make a single event an experience that people want to visit again and again, it takes work to train performers and manage the venue.

Ichizo's business later expanded to include department stores. Hankyu Department Store opened in Umeda in 1929.[1] Live, move, enjoy, buy. If you arrange them one by one in the order of their daily lives, the idea of ​​a day in the life of a person would be more appropriate than the word diversification.

Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (1930s documentary photo). It tells the history of opera that spread from Takarazuka to Tokyo.
Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (1930s documentary photo). It tells the history of opera that spread from Takarazuka to Tokyo.
Photographer unknown / Wikimedia Commons/Image source / Public domain(No modification of photo content)

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