Japanese fans flock to see 16-year-old male entertainer who plays female
roles, with white makeup, pouty red lips and kimono, while off stage, he is
like any other high school boy.

YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (RECENT) REUTERS -
 On stage the dancer, heavy with white makeup and pouty red
lips, spins to booming synthesiser music, a rainbow-coloured kimono fluttering
in bright lights.
    Off stage, the dancer is like any other high school boy, clad in a
t-shirt and trousers, with dyed-brown bangs hanging heavy over his eyes.
    Japanese fans, especially women, are flocking to performances by
16-year-old Taichi Saotome, a male entertainer who has played female roles in
a family theatre troupe since he was four.
    Nicknamed "Prince of the Sidelong Glance" for his ability to
mesmerise the audience with a single look from his downcast eyes, Saotome's
dancing has been praised by domestic media for its feminine elegance and
understated seductiveness.
    The art of male actors playing female roles is mainstream entertainment
in Japan, where traditional kabuki theatre, which traces its roots back to the
17th century, is still performed only by men.
    Saotome is a big star of "taishu engeki", or theatre for the
masses, which although influenced by kabuki is a more casual, and less
expensive, form of entertainment.
    TV stints and a wave of publicity have broadened his fan base beyond
theatre buffs to include Japanese women entranced by such smooth-faced, young
heartthrobs.
    The tall, thin dancer explained that the secret of playing female roles
lies all in the movement.
    "My shoulders are getting broad and high, so I have to make up for
that by using my body, by moving my shoulders more," he told Reuters in
an interview recently as he relaxed backstage in a men's kimono and without
the elaborate make-up that takes him 30 minutes to apply.
    Saotome's appeal, his fans say, lies in his ability to capture the
essence of old-fashioned Japanese femininity -- graceful yet strong-willed,
with a slight hint of sex appeal.
    Fans are captivated by his moves, from spinning quickly with his back
arched, to hiding his face with a folding fan, tilting his head and gazing
distantly into the audience.
    "He is so elegant, graceful and wonderful," said Toshiko
Takase, 50-year-old a housewife, after a recent performance outside Tokyo,
where frenzied fans scrambled for posters and other memorabilia printed with
his face, both with and without makeup.
    "He is a male but far more beautiful than any female. I can learn
so much from him," added 71-year-old Fumiko Morita.
    "Onna-gata", or men who play female roles, have been a part
of Japanese culture for centuries, popularised by traditional kabuki
theatre.
    Taishu engeki is said to have consolidated as a separate form of
dramatic art by regional and travelling performers in the early 1900s.
    Saotome says he learns his moves not from watching women but from his
teacher of traditional Japanese dance.
    "Even though he is too young to understand what I keep explaining
him of being adult female, he can instantly see through the essence and
imitate it in great style. That ability makes him far better than other normal
entertainers," said his dance teacher Toyotaka Azuma. 
    His manager hopes Saotome, who sometimes plays male roles,  can take on
overseas audiences after performing in Hawaii and Beijing last year. He
performs again in Hawaii in September.
    Saotome, who has appeared in prize-winning director Takeshi Kitano's
films "Zatoichi" and "Takeshis'", is eager to broaden his
repertoire from dancing to include more acting, while perfecting his current
craft.
    "I don't feel I have that much potential yet," he said about
a career outside Japan, adding that he doesn't speak English.
    "I want to raise my potential and once that's at a high level,
perform overseas."