Abstract

This article examines how the reproduction of Shinto-inspired ideology materialized through the narrative symbol of “girls” in the Takarazuka operetta performances at the time of the Pacific War from 1940 to 1945. It explores the performances and changes in identity of the Japanese operetta, which the government and media exploited to manufacture and assimilate collective emotion socially and nationally. It is argued that the means of creating collective emotions positively correlates with depersonalization, as per social psychology and media communication theories. This correlation is further investigated in the context of international political ideology. The analysis of the operetta explores how the girls—the actresses—and the audience were depersonalized and decollectivized. This article focused on girls as the symbol of narratives that represent Shinto-inspired ideology of Japan at that time. The variables of the “degree of collective emotions” with respect to “girliness” are also explored. The study investigated the girls’ operetta under the context of Japan’s imperialistic philosophy of Greater East Asia. The study especially focused on depersonalization and the subsequent creation of a strong group identity. This study found that the image of girls changed and was interlinked with politics, the state, and capital, besides being a seat of sexual objectification.