Takarazuka Revue Performance to be Streamed Overseas

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, June 9, 2023

A performance by the famed all-female Takarazuka Revue Company will be livestreamed for overseas viewers on Sunday for the first time.

A performance by the company’s Cosmos Troupe on Sunday will be streamed live in more than 200 countries and regions with subtitles in 10 languages. The project is aimed at presenting Japan’s unique revue culture all over the world.

Besides regular performances at Takarazuka Grand Theater and Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, the company has toured abroad 27 times since 1938 and visited 18 countries and regions in the West, Asia and elsewhere. Based in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, it will celebrate its 110th anniversary next year and has decided to stream shows overseas to expand its international popularity.

Live domestic streaming of Takarazuka performances started around 2007 at film theaters. Since fiscal 2020, fans in Japan have been able to watch selected productions live on TVs, PCs and other gadgets.

Partly due to the pandemic, 610,000 people used the service in fiscal 2021, which accounted for 22% of all those who watched performances, either online or live on stage. This provided additional encouragement for the global streaming project.

Sunday’s show can be viewed on Beyond LIVE, a streaming website that has carried many performances, including concerts by K-pop groups. The dialogue and lyrics in Japanese will be subtitled in English, Korean, Vietnamese and other languages.

The company will look into the usage data for the first streaming show and consider further international streaming.

“This is a first-time endeavor for us. We’ll do research on the international market and then plan the next move,” a Takarazuka Revue official said.