<figure id="attachment_421398" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-421398"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4be253bb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/04/2a7676749c35f6d9bcff9d724995d79f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-421398" class="wp-caption-text">Hitomi Kuroki: Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. In 1982, at the young age of 22, she became the top musumeyaku (female role) star of the Takarazuka Revue but left the troupe in 1985. She then transitioned to acting and, starting with the 1986 film Keshin, has continued to appear in numerous works, leaving a strong impression to this day.
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“I need to talk to you — I’m thinking of quitting acting.”
One day, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, she told her husband that. After about ten seconds of silence, his response was a simple, “Sounds good.”
“And the way he says it is so nonchalant. But then, as I’m asking, ‘You think so too?’ and start reading the script I was offered, my heart starts to stir. Before I know it, I’m standing on set again. It’s strange, isn’t it?”
Spoken with a hint of amusement — these are the words of actress Hitomi Kuroki (64).
In 1982, she became the fastest in history to reach the top musumeyaku (female role) position in the Takarazuka Revue at the age of 22. In 1997, she sparked a social phenomenon with the film Lost Paradise. Ever since, she has continued taking on challenges in both film and stage as an actress and director, her career now spanning over 40 years. Even so, she remains on the front lines of entertainment, always seeking new challenges.
“As I kept going back and forth between ‘I’ll quit’ and ‘I won’t quit,’ my husband started calling it my ‘I’m quitting, I’m quitting scam’ (laughs). Maybe for me, it’s like when people casually say, ‘I’m done drinking.’ But whenever I get an offer for the next project, without fail, I end up thinking, ‘I still want to act!’ I really do love acting after all.
Even when COVID hit and all my work disappeared, I had moments where I thought it was okay to let go of it myself, so I wasn’t that scared. Of course I felt anxious, but I wasn’t in a panicked rush — I was able to properly stay home and spend my days normally.”
She neither forces herself to quit nor to continue. And yet before she realizes it, the desire to return to set wells up again. She says it’s the countless encounters she’s had along the way that became the “soil” to nurture who Hitomi Kuroki is today.
“This is the only work I’ve ever done. So both as an actress and as a person, it’s the ‘encounters’ that raised me, without a doubt.”
<h3>With just the way you stand</h3>
The origin of it all was the Takarazuka Revue. She looks back on seeing the pride of a stage performer in the figure of Mao Daichi (69).
“The first time I shared the stage with Daichi-san, I felt — ah, so this is what it means to be a pro. What it means to accept money from an audience. From how to stand, how to move — the senior performers showed me everything.”
In the April 11 issue of FRIDAY (April 25–May 2 combined issue) and the paid edition FRIDAY GOLD, she speaks candidly about the many encounters that shaped actress Hitomi Kuroki, and her thoughts on today’s entertainment world.
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For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.
<div data-friday-gold-link-url="https://friday.gold/article/330730" data-friday-gold-link-title="Hitomi Kuroki: Always keep your sails up &quot;Acting is not an interpretation, it is an impulse.&quot;" data-friday-gold-link-excerpt="A top actress whose career has already spanned more than 40 years and who has appeared in more than 200 films is now thinking: &quot;I'd like to talk to you about something, but I'm thinking of quitting acting,&quot; she told her husband one day before the new Corona epidemic, and when he told her so, she sank for about 10 seconds." data-friday-gold-link-thumbnail-wide="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2025/04/1-078-10155410351863.jpg/v/crop-faces:width=256,height=144/format:type=webp?Expires=4102444800&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=T9vF-nfzOPNcc-h1TbCzCV7aopnuWPXMjUkhtK7mG4uOrIEZyHA9fv-h0m4OKCZ~guejEf0C8BVgnlxeB2d2O4~Of-HLW1oEvjeC52WBmFF1W8VC4kvN0XBDmDW9nU0Ky6oVtty-YMmaNjcmQpDKUHry74te5hlyY2aGOWcCSpSsmHTtsTv8IUlKhnqczMO6qohgznDhVjMFeaGBo5j~92OnLPTI9Fc9-9Eyfh4hBsAFxMBhAmb~~O2SrvCdFzUUQjZwJP0fUXMBtCACgY1ak4LicSBKnXe--iJkFcbigAFa1rMij7~4ylBnwPEoe2LKOrIES1bZYL~TQ~3oIf5xLg__" data-friday-gold-link-thumbnail-square="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2025/04/1-078-10155410351863.jpg/v/crop-faces:width=105,height=105/format:type=webp?Expires=4102444800&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=q1BsCCRVAC4enTzvkj64-ENWtl3OyvzD8AEaE5FuI1BfXEGC~Zczs-cVjllHGDe6pmohyNWojaC8hefFRflIP6sckcDH3MNnkvRShFQOOKdzm4PrgBjp5uA0NzOXZTSJk-gouTUhvNswqq97xUohWIsioYBXSK9J6RHVLf27iH3igDgElDAGn3M4LBiyxzC7j8ARDuO0zKiROflpSG2XH-XugVxpiROca8MpcRhVeGwXawWw8VhtmzaUsKw21UQTSMtgnS-KO8jGIy8ZzGyrlJAR0MULMnCwfpBgUiF5uNVc~4T66mYifmkHLLm6Tdt0LHnUWgb7506HtL0uIaXM4g__"></div>
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From the April 25 and May 2, 2025 combined issue of &#8220;FRIDAY”

 Kazuki Shimomura

 Hitoko Goto

 Keizo Kuroda (Iris)

 Hitomi Kuroki told her husband one day before the outbreak of the new Corona virus, "I'm thinking of quitting acting. Kuroki, who became the top Takarazuka actress in 1982 at the age of 22, has been active as an actress and director since leaving the Takarazuka troupe.

Hitomi Kuroki Opens Up About Her Unwavering Passion for Acting and the Joke She Shares with Her Husband

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