OSAKA--Although Anji Hino, a star of the famed all-female musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue, was based in the Kansai region when the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan in 2011, she felt a particular empathy for people who lost family members.
OSAKA--Although Anji Hino, a star of the famed all-female musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue, was based in the Kansai region when the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan in 2011, she felt a particular empathy for people who lost family members.
Less than two weeks before the March 11 disaster, Hino, whose real name is Eriko Ueda, lost her mother, Chizuko, to cancer.
As she was watching the TV news footage of tsunami wiping out coastal areas in Tohoku, Hino, now 30, even thought that she “should have been among the victims of the disaster,” if she could join her mother in heaven.
But her sense of loss was eventually replaced by a desire to inspire people in Tohoku. She could bring smiles to their faces through the magic of her Takarazuka Revue dancing and singing talents.
Since then, she has visited the tsunami-stricken town of Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, to work as a volunteer and organize events and volunteer tours.
“I was trained in the art of dancing and singing at such a dreamy theater as the Takarazuka,” Hino said. The popular revue, based in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
“It is my joy to bring smiles, with my performance, to people who are still facing the harsh realities of daily life.”
After graduating from the Takarazuka Music School, Hino rose to stardom in the revue through playing heroines in musicals between 2003 and 2011.
From the time she prepared herself to enter the highly selective school, her mother always helped and encouraged Hino to pursue her dream and never missed her performances on stage.
“We were so similar and close, and people said we were like twins,” she recalled.
Five years ago, her mother underwent cancer surgery, and the Takarazuka star cared for her afterward at their residence in Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Ward until Chizuko’s death on Feb. 28, 2011.
Her grave sense of loss drained her drive to play leading roles at Takarazuka, and she decided to end her stage career in October that year.
At first she felt at a loss, as she no longer knew what to expect from life. Then she realized that she could share her grief with residents of Tohoku, and each could help the other overcome the loss of loved ones.
A month after her retirement from the revue, she headed north to Minami-Sanriku to donate her savings from her time while starring in the revue. For the past two and half years since, Hino has visited Minami-Sanriku every month.
At one particularly poignant moment, she could not help crying while sorting through rubble in search of remains of victims. It was the moment her affection for her mother overlapped her emotions for victims of the disaster.
As a volunteer, she now assists the operations of oyster farms. She also organizes hula lessons and concerts featuring former Takarazka stars. She has organized tours of volunteers six times.
Hino is now feeling a renewed sense of commitment to Tohoku, as she feels memories of the disaster are fading among people outside the region. In February, she set up a nonprofit corporate body called “Change” and organized as its one of the first projects a tour to help Tohoku farmers recover their rice fields.
“The Kansai and Tohoku are regions very far apart, but I want to reduce the psychological distance between the people in the two regions,” Hino said.
“The first step for that goal is to help people get to know each other,” she said, adding she will organize exchange and lecture events through her organization.