Takarazuka

Sachiko took me to Takarazuka, near Kobe, this past weekend. About a hundred years ago, a businessman founded the all-female Takarazuka Revue to attract more visitors to the area. The performances are American-style musicals whose (romantic) stories come different sources, e.g. anime, literature, legend. The fan-base is 99% women, who perhaps see the in the female leads who play men the perfect romantic partner that a man could never be, and the phenomenon is a kind of "cross-dressing" meets "Broadway" scene, as fascinating as it is odd. We didn't catch a show...perhaps next time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue

We stayed at a spa hotel which had to have been built during the wild speculation of the now-gone Bubble Era of 1986-1991. With columns and statues reminiscent of ancient Rome, the hotel exuded a contrived opulence that reflected the heady arrogance of those bubble days. However, managements recent and sober attempts to keep costs down were evident everywhere: rooms and carpeting in need of renovation, non-professional, part-time staff, etc. The place felt a little dead, but it's good to be the king...if only for a while.