Actress Tae Kimura appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on June 11th. She talked about taking singing lessons, which she still struggles with, and why she is studying English.
Kimura has decided to take singing lessons once a week. When she entered music college, she wasn't good at singing. She wanted to do musicals but gave up and went into acting instead, and she says, "I kept turning down musical roles even when they came my way."
The role she will be playing in her upcoming starring stage production will include singing scenes. She accepted the role after being told that she didn't have to sing like in a musical, but she said, "I have a strong aversion to singing, so I started by working on my physique, turning my body into an instrument before I could even sing." She explained, "First, I did strength training to build up enough muscle in my stomach to hold air, and then I would press my stomach tightly. This (throat) is just a passageway." She added, "I did strength training all over my body, from my hips up, so that I could hold air in," and laughed, "I've become quite stocky."
He says he's also studying English. He's getting more opportunities to work with directors from overseas, and although there are interpreters, he says he "wants to speak directly if possible," so he studies for an hour or two every day. He also has a tutor once a week to learn specialized terminology and industry jargon used by locals and to correct any minor mistakes.
Ryozo Okuda, a leading Japanese tenor singer who served as president of Showa University of Music, revealed, "He is the younger brother of my great-grandmother." Okuda's brother lives overseas. When he recently returned to Japan, Okuda met with him and he suddenly asked, "Do you know Tetsuko Kuroyanagi?" and confessed, "There was talk of an arranged marriage (with Kuroyanagi)."
Kuroyanagi's father, who was a violinist, had worked with Okuda before, and Kuroyanagi was also acquainted with Okuda. "So, I think that's probably how the conversation about an arranged marriage came about between your grandfather Ryozo and Tetsuko's father," Kimura speculated. Kuroyanagi seemed unable to hide her surprise, saying, "I might have had an arranged marriage and become related to him (Kimura)."
