# Week 7: 劇場という名の星座

**URL:** <https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/week-7/20417>\
**Category:** Book Clubs\
**Created:** [October 25, 2026, 8:09am UTC](https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/week-7/20417 "2026-10-25T08:09:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nikoru](https://deyr2qldo994j.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.learnnatively.com/nikoru/32/413_2.png) [@nikoru](https://forums.learnnatively.com/u/nikoru)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 8:09am UTC](https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/week-7/20417/1 "2026-10-25T08:09:30Z")

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[Join the 小川洋子 （おがわようこ) Book Club here!](https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/x/15820)

[劇場という名の星座 Home Thread](https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/book-club/20312)

## Week 7

 ![cdb214cf-2b2e-4f83-98cc-6f0849b54296](https://forum-assets.learnnatively.com/original/3X/e/e/eef7566dd288eb45dc6c67b434792f775ff8e02f.jpeg)  
**Start Date:** Oct 24  
**Previous Part:** [Week 6](https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/week-6/20416)

## Reading:

| Week | Start Date | Chapter | End Page | Page Count |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week 7 | Oct 24 | スプリングゲイト (until 向かって囁きかける。) | 124 | 17 |

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**Author:** ![domjcw](https://deyr2qldo994j.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.learnnatively.com/domjcw/32/16101_2.png) [@domjcw](https://forums.learnnatively.com/u/domjcw)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://forums.learnnatively.com/t/week-7/20417/2 "2026-10-31T15:47:52Z")

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So in this story we are taken backstage into the world of 黒子の黒子  
I confess that I am very perplexed by the significance of the very dingy sounding Shiatsu head massage place. Obviously our narrator enjoys it, but is there a deeper meaning or connection? Perhaps the second half of the story will make clear.  
Connections There was a fleeting reference to the 着至板 in the previous chapter (did anyone else spot it?) - interesting to see it play a much bigger role here. I wondered vaguely whether the female actress who plays the dying-in-every-show part of Kim in Miss Saigon is the same person as our mysterious old woman in the previous story. But it seems unlikely.

A couple of things that I found helpful.  
(Both of these are real elements of the backstage world of the Imperial theatre)

Here is a picture of an Inari shrine in another theatre ([あぜくらの集い　国立劇場あぜくら会会員特別バックステージツアーを開催いたしました | 独立行政法人 日本芸術文化振興会](https://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/member/news/report20140727/))

 ![ph_20140925_05](https://forum-assets.learnnatively.com/original/3X/e/b/ebd05a319019f2328570c9e8805aec42e0deecc4.jpeg)

And another shrine complete with the ceramic foxes and offerings

 ![yBposWWRPDfxLGSdIZWSa-e9zErHFKgj0_iWuOxfRQsGNFEDqgw_zWbkLtoe1kK2sLdigb0wXvsRoXkZMeDKe1ENRGmD6XfhnbBJejZBbCaC4tlOwB7soTOa45jRcdgd0r-cp-7SrdPDuctsMglbyFJsbqpY7PoBbLb-aCrzGh83E217b04mg-ATOgL8cPHn-2](https://forum-assets.learnnatively.com/original/3X/a/d/add270ec7e3f6b9f2d8b0926d38998ee284a4118.jpeg)

And here is an image of the 着至板 for Miss Saigon 9https://x.com/Miss\_Saigon\_JPN/status/783292091950444544)

 ![Ct7QACyUkAArbFo](https://forum-assets.learnnatively.com/original/3X/9/b/9b2cc1d024f65e6e0f2a5c4aced3cc621bbc9662.webp)

If anyone is interested (I haven’t managed to read much of it) - there is an interview here between Ogawa and Masachika Ishimura (an actor who performed in Miss Saigon for 30 years)

> **[市村正親「僕は間違いなく、帝劇の“幸運の椅子”に座った」～作家・小川洋子特別対談／特集「帝国劇場」 2/2 | SPICE - エンタメ特化型情報メディア...](https://spice.eplus.jp/articles/344268?p=2)**
>
> 市村正親「僕は間違いなく、帝劇の“幸運の椅子”に座った」～作家・小川洋子特別対談／特集「帝国劇場」

it includes a reference to the Inari shrine