Hello, first off, I want to say I appreciate your analyses and how much thought you put into them. I enjoy reading them and at the end, I usually have a better understanding of things. I'm a curious creature and don't know much about Japanese theater so I was wondering, are actors famous enough for the general public to recognize them if they are out and about? I know in one of your posts, it was mentioned that Furukawa took a night bus with his manager, would anyone recognize/bother him?
Dear Flauntingdante,
First of all, thank you so much for your sweet words. I put in a lot of time and effort into my analyses, so it means a lot to me that they are meaningful to you!
Hmm, some actors are very famous and get recognised instantly regardless of any disguise. Especially Takarazuka’s male-role-actresses get very easily spotted, but that is partially also because they have this way of walking and style that just screams “I AM FROM TAKARAZUKA!!!”
Otherwise, theatre is still a niche, and therefore theatre actors are not as well-known as J-pop artists. J-pop artists also frequently have bodyguards with them. (Fun story, a friend of mine once bumped into the bodyguards of Gackt. Though Gackt was trying very hard to be incognito, he also had 6 bodyguards flanking all sides of him. Whaddya mean it’s not inconspicuous?)
Yes, I mentioned in this post that Furukawa hopped onto a night bus for work. Erm... I don’t think many people would instantly recognise Furukawa, because he is usually wearing at least one mask and a hat, plus a scarf that covers his iconic giraffe neck.
Plus, hat + mask is a very common look in Japan, so Furukawa hardly stands out. Most of his male colleagues also share his style, so it’s nothing special.
He is ironically more recognisable when he is actually going incognito...⇊
(Another fun story! Furukawa once bumped into another friend of mine when queuing up at the convenience store. He whispered: “sorry”, and my friend recognised him, and whispered back: “don’t worry about it, but please be careful of the stairs next time**” And then Furukawa shut down.)
**During ‘Mozart!’ they put Furukawa on heels, and his leeeegs tangled, causing him to trip off the stairs as many as five times.
