Takarazuka Revue Company School Removes Application Requirement for ‘Good-Looks’; This year’s acceptance rate is 1 in 12

TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo – The Takarazuka Music School, where performers train for the all-female Takarazuka Revue Company, has cleared its application requirements.

The school, founded in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, as Takarazuka Shokatai (Takarazuka Chorus) in 1913, last month unveiled its guidelines for candidates seeking to enroll in April next year.

Until last year, the guidelines stated that applicants should be “those who are good-looking and suitable to become a performer after graduation as a student of the Takarazuka Revue Company. [from the school].”

However, this provision has been replaced by “those who are physically and mentally healthy and fit to become performers after graduation as members of the Takarazuka Revue Company.”

In its response to questions from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the school said it “will not comment on the reasons behind removing “handsome” from the requirements. However, the school added that it has continuously reflected on how it can administer its entrance exam to “better adapt to changing times and [social] conditions.”

Every year the school recruits approximately 40 girls between the ages of 15 and 18. This year the acceptance rate was 1 in 12, the lowest since 2000. The death of a member of the theater group last year is said to have been one of the contributing factors. behind the lower competitiveness.

This move is “very natural in light of the times and global trends in how to recruit staff,” said theater critic Keifu Ishii.

On the other hand, a 75-year-old woman in Tokyo who says she has been a fan of Takarazuka for 60 years is skeptical.

“Beautiful stars, that’s what Takarazuka performances are all about,” she said. “I believe that applicants will continue to be judged based on their appearance.”