asami-jun

[asami-jun]

been very art blocked so heres anime Empress Elisabeth of Austria bc i spent too long looking at 2000s anime fanart like a month ago. jesus

#CUTEEE #elisabeth

[asami-jun]

"two bodyguards drag me away" has been my fav way to finish insane sentences, its up there with "who said that", "can anyone hear me", "is this thing on" and "its so dark in here"

[asami-jun]

Takarazuka's Sumire Code Explainer

This post is an explainer on the Sumire Code, a mostly unwritten but at times, very definitive set of rules and guidelines regarding both fan conduct and the behaviour of the Takarazuka performers (Takarasiennes, often shortened to ‘siennes’ or ‘jennes’ in English). I’m posting this because I’ve been seeing a lot of new fans around on tumblr lately, and I know this is a complicated part of Takarazuka fandom culture to understand. So, hopefully this helps. This is a long post, but the TL;DR of it is that the Sumire Code is a set of rules that exists to maintain the company’s motto of ‘pure, proper, beautiful’ and, to a certain extent, also to protect the performers by formalising some of the ways in which Takarasiennes and fans interact. There are parts of the Sumire Code that are definitely there for a corporate (PR) function, but there are also those that are purely there for practical reasons and actively protect sienne's health and safety.

This post's intention is only to explain the Sumire Code, not to tell you whether or not to follow it, although I can recommend keeping it in mind when interacting with this fandom in a public sphere, as a lot of these rules have a huge effect on how the fandom functions and interacts with other fans, performers, and the company at large.

I understand it’s gonna read like a lot, but that’s what explainers are for. ^_^" I’ve added historical context where I thought it relevant. This post is based on a combination of my and other longtime fans' personal recollections, as well as the takawiki page discussing the Sumire Code. 

Sumire Code for Takarasiennes The Sumire Code for Takarasiennes (hereafter referred to as ‘siennes’) is a combination of unwritten rules of conduct and contractual agreements between them and the Hanshin Hankyu Corporation (from here in this post ‘the company’). It has to do both with their public image and the way they interact with fans. A number of these rules are not actually Takarazuka exclusive but are widely used within idol fan culture in not only Japan but also China and Korea (you’ll probably recognise those if you’re in those fandoms). While these rules do not apply to us as fans, it is important to understand what they are so that, when we as fans do interact with siennes, we do not accidentally make them break their side of the rules or get them in trouble by saying things we shouldn’t:

Siennes must maintain the appearance of their onstage gender offstage. This means musumeyaku must dress in a more feminine style and otokoyaku cannot just show up to work in a dress, or even be seen in public in anything that would be considered unsuitable for an otokoyaku in their private time  – with the exception of when they are playing a female role. This is part of preserving the ‘dreamworld’ that Takarazuka aims to create. This is a rule that developed in more recent times. 

Up to the ‘40s, many otokoyaku actually had long hair they were hiding under wigs or hats (it was a very big deal when the first otokoyaku actually cut hers or her own volition, reportedly not supported by the company at the time), but this changed in the subsequent years. This has now developed into otokoyaku not really being ‘allowed’ to have long hair unless it is for a specific role. In the 90’s, Maya Miki (influenced by long hair for men being in fashion) pioneered the long haired topstar, and was seen as a revolutionary for doing so. You would still see them in women’s shoes and hats up to the ‘90s, but this is the situation at present. 

Siennes must remain unmarried and (at least officially) are not allowed to date. This means that they cannot be seen in public with a romantic partner, once again so as not to break the ‘dreamworld’.

Siennes are expected to maintain a ‘pure’ public image—so no scandals or other such things from their personal lives should ever come forward. 

Siennes use a stage name to separate their private life from their life as a Takarasienne and are not allowed to give out their personal information (age, name, etc). At times, this extends beyond their tenure within Takarazuka, with a number of siennes wanting to keep their real names off public record websites and only listing their stage names.

Siennes are not allowed to use any social media as themselves or their stage persona during their tenure within Takarazuka; their interaction with the public all runs through the company or other official channels and interviews.

This is also why they do not appear in insta or other social media posts when they occasionally participate in outside productions (except official posters and press shoots). It is also expected of collaborators and OGs to cut siennes out of their pictures if they are in them, you may see this occasionally when an OG posts a picture of a meeting with other OGs and siennes and there are faces blurred out. 

Sumire Code for Fans The Sumire Code for fans concerns the ways in which we interact with Takarasiennes at any point. This is a (non-exhaustive) list of guidelines, separated in two parts, the social conduct and copyright related things:

Social Conduct: 

Fans are to respect siennes’ privacy. This means do not look up or discuss their real names, real ages, family life, or personal relationships. Their personal lives are theirs and are separate from their persona as a Takarasienne, and that must be respected. 

Fans are expected not to speak to, interact with, or otherwise bother siennes when they see them outside the theater. Many siennes live in and around Takarazuka and it is not uncommon to encounter them outside of the theater or in the surrounding towns. If this does happen, you are expected to pretend they are not there. Do not interact with them, don’t talk to them, don't ask them for an autograph, don’t take photographs, and, in general, just treat them as though they were any other stranger you do not know. When they are going about their day outside the theater, they are not there for your entertainment and just want to go about their daily lives. This rule exists because there have been multiple stalking incidents in the past. 

The only times it is acceptable to take pictures of Takarasiennes is during iri- or demachi when siennes are either entering or leaving the theater for rehearsals or a show, and then only from the designated gallery area.

Non-club fans are expected to stick to the gallery area during iri- or demachi times while club members form the guard, interacting more directly with siennes. This rule stems from Takarazuka’s berubara boom, during which various siennes were mobbed by overzealous fans. Since then, there has been a very strict way of interacting during iri- and demachi, which allows the siennes more safety and security and formalises the process. Club members essentially ���guard’ their Takarasienne from anyone that would bother them. If you are not in a club, you are expected not to approach, talk to, or give something to a sienne. You are also expected not to loiter or approach or bother siennes if you see them arriving further away from the theater.

Up until the early 90s, the currently mostly symbolic guard was very much literal, as club members would form a literal barrier between siennes and mobs, like a full on bodyguard team. 

If you want to give a sienne a gift and you are not in their club, you can either mail it or leave it at the stage door at the theater, but you cannot hand it to them. This is part of the very formalised set of rules that mean you cannot interact with siennes directly unless under very specific circumstances. The mailing address of the theater can be found on takawiki. If you are in Japan and want to leave a letter or a gift at the theater, please only do so outside of irimachi or demachi times, or any other time siennes might be walking in or out, as you are expected to stay away during those times. This includes just before or after performances. 

While there are many acceptable gifts, flowers are actively not allowed due to them having had a role in marking popularity of siennes that run extremely out of hand, leading them to be banned as a gift by the theater (this is not even unwritten, it's actually official). Aside from this, unsealed, unpackaged, or homemade food is heavily discouraged. 

Fans are expected not to spread rumours about siennes, not to degrade or bully siennes, and not to publicly post lewd or objectifying comments. This rule often gets ignored (especially in the online sphere). However, spreading rumours can reflect badly on the siennes involved, especially if it gets back to the troupe or the company, and can get siennes in trouble. Bullying has also been a serious problem on SNS, and the company has publicly stated that they will crack down on this sort of conduct on SNS. 

Club members are not allowed to share any club information (either online in public or with non-members in general). Any information, pictures, or merchandise received from clubs is not to be shared with non-club members. This information is considered private and therefore falls under the privacy rules already outlined above. Moreover, club merch is produced by the club themselves. Posting it for free online is considered not only a breach of trust, but also taking money directly away from the sienne who's club you are presumably in to financially support. 

Club merchandise is not to be resold. This rule is often not adhered to in online spaces. But if your club finds out you are selling club merch to others, you will be kicked out of the club. 

Copyright Related Rules:

Fans are expected not to do anything that actively harms the company’s profits. This rule is very broad, but tends to include the following: not sharing full shows or links to full shows publicly online, not scanning and posting complete magazines (or even larger parts of it), not sharing music publicly, etc. This means that there is a lot of discussion about how much one can reasonably post and where one should draw the line, but the company has shown extreme willingness to crack down on anyone they consider to be crossing the line, from nuking youtube channels uploading shows to going after people using siennes as their pfp on social media, so it is good to keep that in mind when interacting with Takarazuka in online spaces.

According to the takawiki page on the Sumire Code, Japanese copyright law protects people posting small amounts of images from a personal collection. That is actually not what the law says, as Japanese copyright law does not have a feature like ‘fair use’ under which such images would fall. However, people have been posting single images from private collections for years without this causing an issue. This also means that all of these rules are actually quite widespread in Japan anyway, but not every company is as exceptionally diligent as this one in pursuing them. 

The company does not want fans to post photos of the safety curtains displayed before the show and during the act-break, or the posters they post around the city. The exception to this is if you post something else as the focus of the image, leading to people now often photographing a plushie in front of a poster or a curtain. 

References/Further Reading 1. Takawiki on the Sumire Code

2. Takawiki on gallery

3. Takawiki on irimachi

4. Takawiki on demachi

5. Takawiki on guard

6. Takawiki on addresses

#takarazuka

[asami-jun]

Source

#german #awww

[asami-jun]

verified ways to donate to gaza directly

Help a Palestinian family directly:

gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical attention, daily necessities, rebuilding homes, rebuilding businesses or more. Site run by Palestinians, all GFMs verified. Spotlights 1 stagnant GFM at a time. (*If you can't decide who/where to donate, just go here and donate to the 1 GFM they show you!)

Help provide tents: (*emergency as Rafah is being bombarded as we speak)

The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents & transport for families in Rafah who urgently need to evacuate to Deir Al Balah. Has a team on the ground in Gaza who have supplied tents to 1% of the displaced population in Rafah. Run by Palestinians. (paypal) (gfm)

@helpgazachildren: Currently helping Palestinians in a refugee camp in Rafah flee the Rafah invasion to Khan Younis. Funds go directly to Hussam, a Palestinian in Rafah who hosts a refugee camp. Funds will cover the cost of tents & transport fuel. Managed by a Palestinian @.fairuzfan. (gfm)

Food, cash & essentials:

Care for Gaza: Palestinian charity on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their Twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

We Feed Gaza: Team of Palestinian volunteers in the heart of Gaza distributing food & water to 344+ families. 100% run by Palestinians. Vetted & promoted by LetsTalkPalestine. (gfm)

Direct Aid for Gaza: A Palestinian activist on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash & other essential supplies to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

Water:

Gaza Municipality's water campaign: The official Municipality of Gaza needs help rebuilding the water infrastructure in Gaza City to restore access to clean water & waste management services for the people of Gaza. (*This campaign only has a few weeks left but it's still only at 15%!)

eSIMs (urgent):

guide to buy & send esims to gaza

Crips for eSims for Gaza: If you don't know how to buy esims, don't have enough $ for an esim plan, or don't have the capacity to manage them (e.g. topping up regularly), you can donate any amt to this team of volunteers who pool funds to buy & maintain gaza esims regularly (see their financial accountability document).

Medical Aid

Palestine Children's Relief Fund: Recently launched emergency humanitarian aid response for displaced children in northern Gaza, 97% rating by Charity Navigator.

Medical Aid for Palestinians: Currently trying to rebuild Nasser hospital, has on-the-ground team in Gaza, 95% rating by Charity Navigator.

[asami-jun]

8/31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN — Child's Play (1988)

#child's play #cinema..

[asami-jun]

The Beloved Empress Sissy Barbie®

Barbie® Bazaar - April 1999

#NEED #elisabeth

[asami-jun]

Abla Alaoui and Willemijn Verkaik as Anna and Elsa in Disneys DIE EISKÖNIGIN das Musical in Hamburg (October, 2023)

#frozen the musical #elsa #anna #willemijn verkaik #abla alaoui

[asami-jun]

Germany's leading Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the opposition Christian Democratic Party (CDU) have ordered high schools in Berlin's borough of Neukolln to distribute brochures titled The Myth of Israel #1948. [...] Neukolln is one of Berlin's most diverse and international boroughs with a large Palestinian community. [...] The brochure states there are five "myths" around the creation of the state of Israel, which are subsequently refuted in short essays by various authors. In the first section, debunking myth #1, that Jews and Arabs lived together in peace before Israel was founded, Israel's pre-state militia, the Haganah, responsible for the destruction of 531 Palestinian villages and the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians between December 1947 and the summer of 1948, is promoted as a merely "defensive" Jewish resistance movement. Under 'Myth #2: Israel was established on stolen Palestinian land', Masiyot states that the acquisition of land by Jewish immigrants to Palestine took the form of a legal exchange of capital for an official title deed. At no point in history was land illegally conquered by Jewish immigrants, the author of the text, Michael Spaney, claims. Even land conquered following the wars of 1948 and 1967 and the subsequent construction of settlements, which are internationally recognised as a violation of international law, did not occur unlawfully, it says. "Anyone who uses the accusation of land theft as an argument demonises Israel and denies its legitimacy, i.e. acts out of antisemitic motives," Spaney wrote. "Myth #5: Israel is to blame for the Nakba", includes a text by researcher Shany Mor titled "the UN is distorting the meaning of the Nakba: its view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is extremely one-sided". In the text, Mor states that "displacement during war - then and now - was nothing unusual". He also labels the UN's attention to the Palestinian cause "obsessive" and the Arab defeat of 1948 a myth.

. . . full article on MME (23 Feb 2024)

#oh! #this is foul #even though i'm seeing this later doesnt erase the wtf #german

[asami-jun]

#me

[asami-jun]

Wicked (2024) dir. Jon M. Chu

#wicked #elphaba thropp #glinda upland #gelphie

[asami-jun]

Holy shit. The Israeli whistleblower story CNN just broke is insane. I cannot believe what I’m reading

[asami-jun]

when you censor yourself like this -> *** on my dash i respect your right to privacy but I AM trying to decipher it like we're playing hangman or something. is there an o in there give me something to work with

#me

[asami-jun]

Musicals’ Week Pro Dance - Defying Gravity (AKA Strictly does Gelphie)

#LETS GO LESBIANS HELLO???? #wicked #gelphie

[asami-jun]

My dealer: got some straight gas 👌🔥🔥 this is called paprika hendl 🐓🔥 youll be zonked out of your gourd

me: I don’t feel anything

five minutes later: im having queer dreams…

my good friend Jonathan harker pacing: the villagers keep speaking of were-wolves and vampires…I must ask the Count about these superstitions…

#KAJDJKDWKKFKG #dracula #jonathan harker

[asami-jun]

#the rose of versailles #before then i never saw myself getting into manga but i swear tkz tends to be the gateway drug #learned of the 2006 production and immediately got brainworms #admittedly i need to read more but rov will always be my baby

[asami-jun]

DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY (1934) dir. Mitchell Leisen

#death takes a holiday