JAPAN: A young male entertainer who plays female roles on stage mesmerises Japanese women

Record ID: 464945

  • Title: JAPAN: A young male entertainer who plays female roles on stage mesmerises Japanese women
  • Date: 10th August 2008
  • Summary: (L!2) YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) TAICHI SAOTOME, WEARING A KIMONO, DANCING SPECTATORS WATCHING SAOTOME DANCING
  • Embargoed: 25th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA65FACJ87S79ZHIKZ14WOSO6HO
  • Story Text: Japanese fans flock to see 16-year-old male entertainer who plays female roles, with white makeup, pouty red lips and kimono, while off stage, he is like any other high school boy.
    On stage the dancer, heavy with white makeup and pouty red lips, spins to booming synthesiser music, a rainbow-coloured kimono fluttering in bright lights.
    Off stage, the dancer is like any other high school boy, clad in a t-shirt and trousers, with dyed-brown bangs hanging heavy over his eyes.
    Japanese fans, especially women, are flocking to performances by 16-year-old Taichi Saotome, a male entertainer who has played female roles in a family theatre troupe since he was four.
    Nicknamed "Prince of the Sidelong Glance" for his ability to mesmerise the audience with a single look from his downcast eyes, Saotome's dancing has been praised by domestic media for its feminine elegance and understated seductiveness.
    The art of male actors playing female roles is mainstream entertainment in Japan, where traditional kabuki theatre, which traces its roots back to the 17th century, is still performed only by men.
    Saotome is a big star of "taishu engeki", or theatre for the masses, which although influenced by kabuki is a more casual, and less expensive, form of entertainment.
    TV stints and a wave of publicity have broadened his fan base beyond theatre buffs to include Japanese women entranced by such smooth-faced, young heartthrobs.
    The tall, thin dancer explained that the secret of playing female roles lies all in the movement.

    "My shoulders are getting broad and high, so I have to make up for that by using my body, by moving my shoulders more," he told Reuters in an interview recently as he relaxed backstage in a men's kimono and without the elaborate make-up that takes him 30 minutes to apply.
    Saotome's appeal, his fans say, lies in his ability to capture the essence of old-fashioned Japanese femininity -- graceful yet strong-willed, with a slight hint of sex appeal.
    Fans are captivated by his moves, from spinning quickly with his back arched, to hiding his face with a folding fan, tilting his head and gazing distantly into the audience.

    "He is so elegant, graceful and wonderful," said Toshiko Takase, 50-year-old a housewife, after a recent performance outside Tokyo, where frenzied fans scrambled for posters and other memorabilia printed with his face, both with and without makeup.

    "He is a male but far more beautiful than any female. I can learn so much from him," added 71-year-old Fumiko Morita.

    "Onna-gata", or men who play female roles, have been a part of Japanese culture for centuries, popularised by traditional kabuki theatre.
    Taishu engeki is said to have consolidated as a separate form of dramatic art by regional and travelling performers in the early 1900s.
    Saotome says he learns his moves not from watching women but from his teacher of traditional Japanese dance.

    "Even though he is too young to understand what I keep explaining him of being adult female, he can instantly see through the essence and imitate it in great style. That ability makes him far better than other normal entertainers," said his dance teacher Toyotaka Azuma.
    His manager hopes Saotome, who sometimes plays male roles, can take on overseas audiences after performing in Hawaii and Beijing last year. He performs again in Hawaii in September.
    Saotome, who has appeared in prize-winning director Takeshi Kitano's films "Zatoichi" and "Takeshis'", is eager to broaden his repertoire from dancing to include more acting, while perfecting his current craft.

    "I don't feel I have that much potential yet," he said about a career outside Japan, adding that he doesn't speak English.

    "I want to raise my potential and once that's at a high level, perform overseas."
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