12-28-2009, 03:45 PM
Good on the game old duck and all that.
.... however saying that this does kinda creep me out a litttle
Lifelong love of the stage keeps Japan's oldest stripper dancing, charming audiences.
Hikaru Wakao, billed as the oldest active stripper, prepares in her dressing room. (Mainichi)
A figure in a black kimono and a wig with a man's topknot stands on stage, drawing a laugh from the crowd as it pretends to mistakenly stab itself in the hand with a metal truncheon. A quick trip to the wings and the figure reappears, this time sporting an ornate red hairpin. The figure -- obviously a woman now -- basks in the spotlight, and begins to strip off her clothes.
The woman shedding layers of kimono is Hikaru Wakao: age unknown, but billed as "the oldest active stripper." In fact, Wakao says that in a few years she will reach 70. The historical plays she performs before her striptease are highly popular, and on this cold night she has drawn a crowd of spectators to the Kogane Theater in Yokohama.
Wakao's parents divorced soon after she was born, and she never went to school, instead touring the country with her music hall performer father, who also taught her how to dance. She married her husband at 17, and became a stepmother to his three children.
Wakao and her husband formed their own theater company, but soon after a truck accident on a mountain cliff in Gifu Prefecture killed seven of their performers and severely injured her husband and troupe leader, who was admitted to hospital. The remainder of the fledgling company broke up, and times became very hard for Wakao and her family.
"I don't want my children to experience living in poverty," she told herself and, remembering her own childhood, made a decision. She would become a stripper.
Wakao and her husband cried all through the night before her first burlesque performance, but when she got on stage and began to dance, she was overcome by the spirit of a performer. Her husband, who has very high artistic standards, came and sat in the audience, hooting and catcalling. Frustrated by her own performances, she would sometimes spend all night practicing her act after the customers had all gone home.
Wakao left her children in the care of her mother-in-law and set out on the road, touring Japan with her striptease, while also sinking deep into poverty. When her husband took her out for a meal at a department store restaurant to celebrate her coming of age ceremony in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, all they could afford to order was udon noodles with deep-fried tofu.
"Even so, I was so happy," Wakao says. "I'll never forget the taste."
She has followed the path of a professional stripper for some 50 years now. And while the industry has grown increasingly shocking over the years, Wakao still believes in the particular charms of dance.
"I made it with clenched teeth," Wakao says, showing a flash of the determination that keeps her doing what she loves, on the stage and under the lights. "I would be happy if I died on stage."
Wakao is now a grandmother to five children, and suffers from a sore back.
"I want to lend the aged some energy," Wakao says and smiles. Outside the dressing room, the audience claps expectantly. Wakao gives herself a thorough look-over in the mirror, and heads towards the stage.
.... however saying that this does kinda creep me out a litttle
Lifelong love of the stage keeps Japan's oldest stripper dancing, charming audiences.
Hikaru Wakao, billed as the oldest active stripper, prepares in her dressing room. (Mainichi)
A figure in a black kimono and a wig with a man's topknot stands on stage, drawing a laugh from the crowd as it pretends to mistakenly stab itself in the hand with a metal truncheon. A quick trip to the wings and the figure reappears, this time sporting an ornate red hairpin. The figure -- obviously a woman now -- basks in the spotlight, and begins to strip off her clothes.
The woman shedding layers of kimono is Hikaru Wakao: age unknown, but billed as "the oldest active stripper." In fact, Wakao says that in a few years she will reach 70. The historical plays she performs before her striptease are highly popular, and on this cold night she has drawn a crowd of spectators to the Kogane Theater in Yokohama.
Wakao's parents divorced soon after she was born, and she never went to school, instead touring the country with her music hall performer father, who also taught her how to dance. She married her husband at 17, and became a stepmother to his three children.
Wakao and her husband formed their own theater company, but soon after a truck accident on a mountain cliff in Gifu Prefecture killed seven of their performers and severely injured her husband and troupe leader, who was admitted to hospital. The remainder of the fledgling company broke up, and times became very hard for Wakao and her family.
"I don't want my children to experience living in poverty," she told herself and, remembering her own childhood, made a decision. She would become a stripper.
Wakao and her husband cried all through the night before her first burlesque performance, but when she got on stage and began to dance, she was overcome by the spirit of a performer. Her husband, who has very high artistic standards, came and sat in the audience, hooting and catcalling. Frustrated by her own performances, she would sometimes spend all night practicing her act after the customers had all gone home.
Wakao left her children in the care of her mother-in-law and set out on the road, touring Japan with her striptease, while also sinking deep into poverty. When her husband took her out for a meal at a department store restaurant to celebrate her coming of age ceremony in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, all they could afford to order was udon noodles with deep-fried tofu.
"Even so, I was so happy," Wakao says. "I'll never forget the taste."
She has followed the path of a professional stripper for some 50 years now. And while the industry has grown increasingly shocking over the years, Wakao still believes in the particular charms of dance.
"I made it with clenched teeth," Wakao says, showing a flash of the determination that keeps her doing what she loves, on the stage and under the lights. "I would be happy if I died on stage."
Wakao is now a grandmother to five children, and suffers from a sore back.
"I want to lend the aged some energy," Wakao says and smiles. Outside the dressing room, the audience claps expectantly. Wakao gives herself a thorough look-over in the mirror, and heads towards the stage.
I would stop eating chocolate.. but I'm not a quitter!
:B
:B
