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Takarazuka Revue

The Takarazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団) is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japanese folktales. The Takarazuka Revue Company is a division of the Hankyu Railway company; all members of the troupe are employed by Hankyu.

History

The Takarazuka Revue was founded by Ichizō Kobayashi, an industrialist-turned-politician and president of Hankyu Railways, in Takarazuka, Japan in 1913. The city was the terminus of a Hankyu line from Osaka and already a popular tourist destination because of its hot springs. Kobayashi believed that it was the ideal spot to open an attraction of some kind that would boost train ticket sales and draw more business to Takarazuka. Since Western song and dance shows were becoming more popular and Kobayashi considered the kabuki theater to be old and elitist, he decided that an all-female theater group might be well received by the general public.

The Revue had its first performance in 1914. Ten years later, the company had become popular enough to obtain its own theater in Takarazuka, called the, meaning "Grand Theater." In 1934, the company opened the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, which then underwent a renewal in 2001. Each Grand Theater show will typically perform for one month in the Takarazuka Grand Theater before a three week break, followed by a one month run in the Tokyo Theater. In 1978, the Bow Hall Theater was opened within the same complex as the Grand Theater. Seating 500, the Bow Hall features smaller shows that run for just over a week, and which often lack the grandiosity of Grand Theater shows. Currently, Takarazuka performs for 2 million people each year.

Tickets are famously difficult to acquire, though are not considered to be incredibly expensive - the cheapest ticket available for a Grand Theater performance is 3500 yen, and the most expensive is 12,500 yen. All tickets for Bow Hall performances are 6500 yen, regardless of seat assignment.

Part of the novelty of Takarazuka is that all the parts are played by women, based on the original model of kabuki before 1629 when women were banned from the theater in Japan. The women who play male parts are referred to as "male role" (男役) and those who play female parts are called "girl role" (娘役). Collectively, the Takarazuka performers are called "Takarasiennes". This name derives from the revue's fondness of the French revues and the word "Parisienne."

The costumes, set designs, and lighting are lavish and the performances melodramatic. Side pathways extend the already-wide proscenium accommodating elaborate processions and choreography. Regardless of the era of the musical presented, period accuracy is relaxed for costumes during extravagant finales which include scores of glittering performers parading down an enormous stage-wide staircase, known as the, and a Rockette-style kick line. Lead performers portraying both male and female roles appear in the finale wearing huge, circular, feathered back-pieces reminiscent of Las Vegas or Paris costuming.

Before becoming a member of the troupe, a young woman must train for two years in the Takarazuka Music School, one of the most competitive of its kind in the world. Each year, thousands from all over Japan audition. The 40 to 50 who are accepted are trained in music, dance, and acting, and are given seven-year contracts. The school is famous for its strict discipline and its custom of having first-year students clean the premises each morning.

All first-year women train together before being divided by the faculty and the current troupe members into and  at the end of the year. Those playing cut their hair short, take on a more masculine role in the classroom, and speak in the masculine form.

The company has five main troupes: Flower (花), Moon (月), Snow (雪), Star (星) and Cosmos (宙), as well as Superior (専科), an emeritus troupe for senior actresses no longer part of a regular troupe who still wish to maintain their association with the revue and perform from time to time. Flower and Moon are the original troupes, founded in 1921. The Snow Troupe was founded in 1924, followed by the Star Troupe in 1931 (it was disbanded in 1939 and was later reestablished in 1948). Cosmos, founded in 1998, is the newest troupe.

Actors
Though Takarazuka Revue gives the appearance of having been created to grant Japanese women freedom from social oppression, ironically, it was created with the opposite intention, with Takarazuka scholar Lorie Brau stating that "The production office and corporate structure that control Takarazuka are overwhelmingly patriarchal." However, although Takarazuka embodies Shiraishi's idea that the actresses become "good wives and wise mothers" upon leaving the company, it also simultaneously represents progressive feminist points of view. Some believe that its appeal to the female audience is on account of the perceived link to freedom from traditional Japanese society's imposed ideas of gender and sexuality. Brau states that while the Takarazuka Revue "reinforces the status quo and sublimates women's desires through its dreamy narratives, there remains some possibility that certain spectators find it empowering simply to watch women play men."

Some Takarasienne shows, such as The Rose of Versailles and Elisabeth, feature androgynous characters. In Brau's view, the represents the woman's idealized man, free from the roughness or need to dominate found in real life. It is these male roles that offer an escape from the strict, gender-bound real roles lauded in Japanese society. In a sense, the provides the female audience with a "dream" of what they desire in reality.

In addition to their claim to "sell dreams", the actresses of the Takarazuka Revue take on another role, empowering themselves as women in a male-dominated culture. Kobayashi's desire to make his actresses into good wives and mothers has often been hindered by their own will to pursue careers in the entertainment business. It is becoming increasingly more common for women to stay in the company well into their thirties, beyond the perceived conventional limits of marriageable age. The actresses' role within the Takarazuka Revue thus overlaps into the culture surrounding it, adding to their appeal to the female-dominant audience. "In fact, it is the carrying over of this 'boyishness' into everyday life and the freedom that this implies that captures the attention of some fans."

The, however, is not bound to her assigned male role in the theater. Tsurugi Miyuki, top star of the Moon Troupe, said that she conceived male impersonation as just a "role" that she wore like the makeup and costume that helped create her  image. She said she reverts to her nonperforming "feminine" self after performance. Other feel uncomfortable switching to female roles. Matsu Akira, who retired in 1982, stated: "Even though I am a female, the thing called 'female' just won't emerge at all." Most actresses refer to otokoyaku as an "image", which they learn to create on stage.

Although traditionally an all-female troupe, in 1946 the Takarazuka employed male performers who were trained separately from the female members of the troupes. Ultimately, however, the female members opposed these new male counterparts, and the department was dissolved, the last male department terminating in 1954. A 2007 Japanese musical, Takarazuka Boys, was based on this chapter of the company's history.

While the casts are all-female, the staff (writers, directors, choreographers, designers, etc.) and orchestra musicians are predominantly male. It is not uncommon, however, in Takarazuka for a mostly male orchestra to be led by a female conductor.

Troupes
The five troupes (組) of the Takarazuka Revue have certain differences of style and material which make each unique.

Flower Troupe ()
The Flower Troupe is considered the "treasure chest" of. Many of the most popular former and current top stars of the company originated in the Flower Troupe; these include Miki Maya (who held the first Budokan solo concert in Takarazuka's history), Sumire Haruno and Tomu Ranju of Flower, Jun Shibuki, Jun Sena and Kiriya Hiromu of Moon, and Hikaru Asami of Snow. Their performances tend to have larger budgets, with lavish stage and costume designs, and are often derived from operatic material.

Moon Troupe ()
While tending to be a home for young performers (with Yūki Amami in her sixth year reaching the status of top star in the 1990s), the members of the Moon Troupe are also strong singers. The term "Musical Research Department" is occasionally used in articles about the troupe, underscoring the troupe's focus on music. Their material tends toward drama, Western musicals, and modern settings, such as Guys and Dolls and Me and My Girl. During the era of Makoto Tsubasa as top star, they had at least two musicals adopted from classic western novels.

Snow Troupe ()
The Snow Troupe is considered the upholder of traditional dance and opera for the whole company, being the vanguard of traditional Japanese drama in a company that tends towards Western material. They were the first troupe to perform Elisabeth in Japan. The troupe has been moving towards the opera and drama style of the Moon and Flower troupes.

Star Troupe ()
The Star Troupe tends to be the home of Takarazuka's stars. They, along with the Flower Troupe, have very strong players. In recent years, many of the company's prominent have also originated from the Star Troupe, such as Hana Hizuki, Shizuku Hazakura, and Yuki Aono.

Cosmos Troupe ()
Cosmos, the newest troupe, is less traditional and more experimental. When it was first formed, it culled talent from the other troupes. The Cosmos style is influenced by performers like Asato Shizuki, the founding top star; Yōka Wao and Mari Hanafusa, the "Golden Combi" who headed the troupe for six of its first eight years. Cosmos was the first troupe to perform Phantom and to have a Broadway composer (Frank Wildhorn) write their musical score. Most of the in this troupe are above 170 cm tall (the most notable is Hiro Yuumi, the tallest in the company since she joined in 1997 until her retirement in 2013). While it had a troupe-born actress become top back in 2006 with Asuka Toono, it was not until 2014 that an actress originating from this troupe became an  top star: Seina Sagiri, the former top star of the Snow Troupe (2014–2017).

Superior Members (Senka)
While not necessarily being a troupe, members of the Takarazuka Revue who do not take part in any of the troupes mentioned above are called "Superior Members (Senka)." These members usually have one of a few roles in the troupe: playing a fukeyaku (role of old person), playing a supporting role, playing the role of elderly guys, etc. There can also be cases of playing the main role as an otokoyaku, in a play alongside other troupes such as former top stars Yachiyo Kusagano and Yu Todoroki as well as plays where all partaking members are superior members, such as Hanakuyō, in 1984.

Adaptations of Western works
While the majority of Takarazuka works are written "in house" by members of the creative staff, they are often adapted from Western classic musicals, operas, plays, novels or films:

Novels:
 * Anne Golon's Angélique series
 * Alexander Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter (as Dark Brown Eyes) and Eugene Onegin
 * Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo
 * Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda
 * Antoine François Prévost's Manon Lescaut
 * Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations
 * Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence
 * Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights
 * Erich Maria Remarque's Arch of Triumph
 * Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls
 * F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, The Last Tycoon and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
 * Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
 * Henry Fielding's Tom Jones
 * Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
 * James Hilton's Random Harvest
 * John Steinbeck's East of Eden
 * Johnston McCulley's Zorro
 * Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and War and Peace
 * Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind
 * Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
 * Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's Les Liaisons dangereuses (as Romanesque Mask)
 * Prosper Mérimée's Carmen (as Passion: Jose and Carmen)
 * Stendhal's The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma (as Passionate Barcelona)
 * Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's Blood and Sand

Films:
 * An Officer and a Gentleman
 * Bonnie and Clyde
 * Casablanca
 *  (as At the End of a Long Spring)
 * Farewell My Concubine/The Phantom Lover (as Singing in the Moonlight)
 * JFK
 * RRR
 * Sabrina
 * Somewhere in Time
 * Ocean's 11
 * Once Upon a Time in America

Operas:
 * Aida (under the name Song of the Kingdom)
 * Der Rosenkavalier (as Love Sonata)
 * Il trovatore (as A Kiss To The Flames)
 * The Tales of Hoffmann
 * Tristan und Isolde (as Elegy)
 * Turandot (as Legend of the Phoenix: Calaf & Turandot)
 * Véronique
 * Andrea Chénier (as The Poem of Love and Revolution ~Andrea Chénier~)

 * Madame Butterfly (as Concise, 1931)

Musicals:
 * 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille
 * The Apple Tree
 * Anastasia (musical)
 * Can-Can
 * Carousel
 * Chicago
 * Catch me if you can
 * Cinderella
 * Copacabana
 * Elisabeth
 * Ernest in Love (an adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest)
 * Flower Drum Song
 * Grand Hotel
 * Guys and Dolls
 * How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
 * I am from Austria
 * Kean
 * Kiss Me Kate
 * La Légende du roi Arthur
 * Le Roi Soleil
 * Me and My Girl
 * Mozart, l'opéra rock
 * Oklahoma!
 * On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
 * One Touch of Venus
 * Phantom
 * Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour
 * Singin' in the Rain
 * The Scarlet Pimpernel
 * The Sound of Music
 * West Side Story

Plays:
 * Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar (under the name Rome at Dawn), Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale and Hamlet
 * John Fletcher and Shakespeare's The Two Noble Kinsmen
 * Goethe's Faust

Adaptations of Japanese works

Stories based in Japan and modeled on historical accounts or traditional tales are often referred to as nihonmono (日本物) or, less frequently, wamono (和物). Among the most common of these adapted to the Takarazuka stage is The Tale of Genji.

Popular manga series have often shaped Takarazuka, such as in the case of Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles. Other manga adaptations include The Window of Orpheus, also by Ikeda, Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack and Phoenix, and Yasuko Aoike's El Halcón.

Recent examples of works adapted from Japanese novels or short stories include Moon Troupe's Osaka Samurai (大阪侍), based upon the short story by Ryōtarō Shiba and Flower Troupe's Black Lizard (黒蜥蜴), based upon the Kogoro Akechi story by Edogawa Rampo.

In 2009, Takarazuka Revue performed two shows based on an adaptation of Capcom's video game series Ace Attorney. They took the stage in January 2013 to represent the courtroom game again with the production titled Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney 3. In June 2013, the Revue would debut at Tokyo's Tokyu Theatre Orb an adaptation of another Capcom video game, Sengoku Basara, done by the Flower Troupe. This focused on character Yukimura Sanada, played by Tomu Ranju, the same actress who had taken the role of Phoenix Wright prior to becoming a top star.

In 2017, the Flower Troupe performed a stage adaptation of the (girls') manga series Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern, and performed it again in 2020. In 2019, the Flower Troupe also performed a stage adaptation of the manga series Boys Over Flowers. In August 2022, the Cosmos Troupe performed a stage adaptation of the series High&Low in collaboration with LDH.

Adaptations of other Asian works

Among works adapted from other Asian sources is the Beijing opera The Hegemon-King Bids His Lady Farewell, detailing the romance between General Xiang Yu and his lover, Madam Yu.

Original stories and historical adaptations
Takarazuka has also performed original musicals written "in house" based upon people and events in American, European, and Asian history. Among the more recognizable of these biographical adaptations are Last Party: S. Fitzgerald's Last Day, about F. Scott Fitzgerald; Valentino, about Rudolph Valentino; Dean, about James Dean; and Saint-Exupéry: The Pilot Who Became "The Little Prince", about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Finally, other original stories round out Takarazuka fare, including musicals such as Boxman by the Cosmos Troupe, Too Short a Time to Fall in Love performed by the Star and Moon Troupes, and Silver Wolf (musical) by the Moon and Snow Troupes.

Collaborations
Takarazuka has occasionally worked with notable writers, composers, and choreographers to create original content for the revue. In 1993, Tommy Tune wrote, directed and choreographed the revue Broadway Boys to accompany the Moon Troupe's rendition of Grand Hotel. In 2006, Takarazuka worked with Frank Wildhorn, musical writer and composer of Jekyll & Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel, to create Never Say Goodbye for the Cosmos Troupe. In 2019, Takarazuka worked with Dove Attia, music producer of 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille and La Légende du roi Arthur, to compose Casanova for the Flower Troupe.

Dinner shows and music salons
High ranking Otokoyaku often perform dinner shows towards the middle or end of their careers. Typically held as hotels like the Takarazuka Hotel, Hotel Hankyu International, or the Palace Hotel, dinner shows showcase an actresses popular songs, as well as covers of other non-Takarazuka songs. Attendees pay a premium for food and beverage, as well as a chance to see their star in closer quarters. When a Musumeyaku holds a similar event, it is referred to as a Music Salon. Many actresses continue to do dinner shows even after they have left the company.

Specials
Every year (with some exceptions) a Takarazuka Special is held, usually for one day only. Members from all five troupes come together for skits, dance and song numbers, as well as lengthy MC portions featuring current and former top-stars. From 1961 to 1982 this was referred to as "Takarazuka Festival". From 1984 to 1994 this was referred to as "Takarazuka Music Publication (TMP) Special". In 1995, TMP was renamed to "Takarazuka Creative Arts (TCA)", and thus specials from 1995 to 2007 were referred to as "TCA Specials". From 2008 to present, this has been simply referred to as "Takarazuka Special".

Class
Each actor is referred to as being part of a Takarazuka Musical School class year, or ki (期), which corresponds with the year in which they graduate the music school. For instance, those graduating the music school in 2024 will be referred to as the 110th class. Before performing for the first time on the Grand Theater stage, the graduating class will perform what they have learned in their time at the school in the Bow Hall, through something called bunkasai (文化祭). Then will then go on to perform with one of the regular troupes for one Grand Theater run before being receiving individual troupe assignments. Before performances featuring the newly graduated class, all class members will appear sitting seiza on stage, wearing hakama. Three of their classmates will then make introductory remarks, before the main show begins. The line dance portion of these shows will be comprised only members of the newly graduated class. Actresses are referred to as students (生徒, seito) from the moment they enter the music school to the moment of their graduation.

Seniority
The gender-neutral terms (upperclassmen) and  (lowerclassmen) are used to distinguish senior and junior members of Takarazuka. Lowerclassmen are the actresses who have been performers in Takarazuka for less than seven years. They are employees of the company, and usually work as background dancers and in (performances exclusively for underclassmen). After the seventh year they become upperclassmen, and negotiate contracts with the company instead of being employed by it.

Graduation
When an actress decides to leave the company, its often referred to as retirement (退団, taidan), or graduation (卒業, sotsugyō). Actresses will often choose to graduate at the end of a Grand Theater run, but can also announce immediate retirement and forgo any ceremony. In the case of those graduating at the end of a show, they will participate in two graduation ceremonies; one at the end of the final performance at the Grand Theater, and one at the end of the final performance at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. Towards the end of the second act of these performances, it is common to see graduating members with flowers pinned to their dress or lapel. Top stars or prominent second-in-line (二番手, nibante) will often get a goodbye performance (さよならショー, sayonara shō), where they are able to perform several numbers from their most cherished and memorable roles. This tradition began in 1963 with the graduation of Akashi Teruko.

Once the performances have concluded, the troupe leader (組長, kumi-cho), will read letters or remarks from the graduating actresses in front of the closed curtain, allowing the graduates to change into their graduation attire, usually hakama, but sometimes a tuxedo for the otokoyaku who favors it. When preparations have finished, the curtain will rise to reveal the entire troupe standing on stage, with some holding flowers for the graduates. The troupe leader will then call each member to the stage, where they will descend the grand staircase, before being given flowers from a classmate (同期生, doukisei), as well as from the troupe. For those most senior, it is not uncommon for someone outside the troupe, or someone already graduated, to be called to the stage to give them their doukisei flowers. A song is then sung with troupe members holding each other arm in arm. What follows this is a series of remarks from both the graduating actresses and the top star, interspersed with the opening and closing of the curtain as well as the calling of troupe members to and from the stage. Following the fourth iteration of the curtain closing, there is typically an announcement declaring the end of the performance. However, the standing ovation will often continue until the top star slips out in front of the curtain for one final goodbye. Upon the second announcement declaring the end of the performance, audience members begin to disperse.

It is customary for audience members wear white to final performances.

Star personnel
The current top stars of each group are:

Former Takarasiennes
Takarazuka roster members who went on to work in stage, movies, and television include:

Audience
Women make up the primary audience of Takarazuka; in fact, some estimates say the audience is 90 percent female. There exist two primary theories as to what draws these women to Takarazuka. These theories, put forward by Western scholars, complement each other, drawing on the traditional homoerotic elements of Japanese performing arts, and the ancient subversive nature of the feminine in Japan. One is that the women are drawn to its inherent lesbian overtones. One author states, "It was not masculine sexuality which attracted the Japanese girl audience but it was feminine eroticism". Another theory is that the girls are not drawn to the implicit sexuality of Takarazuka, but instead are fascinated by the (the women who play male roles) "getting away with a male performance of power and freedom".

Favoring the first theory, American Jennifer Robertson observes that lesbian themes occur in every Takarazuka performance, simply by virtue of the fact that women play every role. The audience clearly picks up on it and responds. Within the first ten years of Takarazuka's founding, the audience was vocally responding to the apparent lesbianism. Female fans wrote love letters to the. In 1921 these letters were published and several years later newspapers and the public rallied a cry against Takarazuka, claiming it was quickly becoming a "symbol of abnormal love". In order to combat this, the producers kept its actresses in strict living conditions; they were no longer allowed to associate with their fans. Robertson mentions a phenomenon of "S" or "Class S" love, a particular style of love wherein women who have been influenced by Takarazuka return to their daily lives feeling free to develop crushes on their female classmates or coworkers. This type of romance is typically fleeting and is seen in Japanese society as more of a phase in growing up rather than "true" homosexuality. Robertson sums up her theory thus: "Many [women] are attracted to the Takarazuka because she represents an exemplary female who can negotiate successfully both genders and their attendant roles and domains."

The other theory, supported by Canadian Erica Abbitt, is that the female audience of Takarazuka is drawn not exclusively by lesbian overtones, but rather by the subversion of stereotypical gender roles. Japan is a society notorious for its rigid conception of gender roles. While the original goal of the show may have been to create the ideal good wife and wise mother off stage, on-stage gender roles are, by necessity, subverted. The must act the way men are supposed to act. Abbitt insists that a large portion of the appeal of Takarazuka comes from something she calls "slippage", referring to the enjoyment derived from a character portraying something they are not, in this case a woman portraying a man. While not denying the presence of lesbian overtones within Takarazuka, Abbitt proposes the cause for the largely female audience has more to do with this subversion of societal norms than sexual ones. In essence, the role of presents a type of androgynous freedom that embraces slippage and a non-constrained continuum of gender. While the actual female performer's masculine persona or "secondary gender" was disapproved of outside of the theatrical purposes of Takarazuka, female fans were able to embrace the full gender-fluid continuum otokoyaku provided, as well as engage with Takarazuka in the context of a gender-sex political discourse.

Fan clubs

Some fans demonstrate their loyalty to a particular performer by joining her fan club. Club members can be identified by their wearing scarves of a particular color or even jackets colorfully embroidered with the star's name. Both prior to and following performances at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre or Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre, as stars enter and exit the theatre, as many as several hundred fans congregate in their various club groups and stand in orderly ranks on either side of the street in front of the building. Fan club members are known as a star's "guard" while other fans present at the assemblies are known as the "gallery". Clubs are arranged by actress seniority within the troupe. Theatre officials set up barricades and oversee the assembly.

Whenever an actress exits the theatre, the frontmost group will sit and all the others follow suit (much like the "wave" seen in athletic arenas) with subsequent intervals of standing and sitting. The fans wait patiently, with little conversation, for their favorites to exit the theatre. An almost eerie ritualistic calm prevails. As the stars come out of the building one by one, some alone but most accompanied by staff members of their club, orderly quiet continues to prevail. The glamorous performers, now mostly in slacks or jeans with high heels and wearing oversize visored "newsboy" caps to hide their hair (and some with sunglasses even at night), move along to their own particular fan clubs. Rather than requesting autographs, the fans proffer cards, which are gathered efficiently by each star, who may say a few words but then waves and moves on. Once the last stars have emerged and departed, the clubs disband quietly.

Influence and legacy
Takarazuka has had a profound influence on the history of anime and manga, especially manga. Osamu Tezuka, a highly influential manga creator, grew up in the town of Takarazuka. His mother knew many of the Takarazuka actresses, and as a child he knew them and watched many of their performances. Based on their stories of noble princes played by female actresses, Tezuka created Princess Knight, the first manga aimed at a female audience, which tells the story of Princess Sapphire, a girl born with both a male and female heart who struggles between the desire to fight as a noble prince and to be a tender, gentle princess. The great success of Princess Knight and other Tezuka stories began the tradition of manga written for a female audience, especially the very influential The Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena series, both of which borrow directly from Princess Knight by including specific Tezuka images, character designs and names. The Rose of Versailles is one of Takarazuka's best-known musicals. Women in masculine roles continue to be a central theme in manga and anime, as well as in some  (boys') series, and Tezuka himself explored the theme in many of his later works, including,  and.

While the influence of Osamu Tezuka and Takarazuka on anime and manga is general, there are still many series which show more specific influences. The Takarazuka Revue inspired the plot of the original Sakura Wars video game along with additional inspiration from Takarazuka's one-time competitor, the Shochiku Kagekidan (Shochiku Revue).

The Zuka Club in Ouran High School Host Club is based on the Takarazuka Revue.

The lesbian characters Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou of Sailor Moon were loosely based on the actors of the Takarazuka Revue.

The Virgin's Mask by Jūrō Kara, a significant work of post-war theater, features an aging "-girl" attempting to reclaim her youth through ritualistic bathing in a tub of virgins' tears.

The musical anime series Revue Starlight has elements based on the troupe, including uniforms, the school seal, and theater style, and makes use of these elements to present a critique of Takarazuka practices, particularly the Top Star system.

The Tokyo theater group ("Fur Tribe") has produced homosexual parodies of classic Takarazuka shows like Gone with the Wind.

The manga and anime series follows two teenage girls enrolled in a fictional version of the Takarazuka Music School. There, they train in singing, acting, and dancing, in hopes of joining the infamous all-female theatre troupe. One of the girls, Sarasa, dreams of playing Oscar François de Jarjayes in the theatre's production of Rose of Versailles.

One episode of the anime series Stop!! Hibari-kun! features Wataru Otori, an eccentric drag king who takes on the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.

In the 1957 film Sayonara, set largely in neighboring Kobe, the all-female "Matsubayashi" theater troupe bears many similarities to the Takarazuka Revue.

A 1996 black-and-white photograph of moon troupe top star Jun Shibuki, taken by Daido Moriyama, appeared on the October 1999 cover of Art in America.

Takarazuka and homosexuality in Japanese society
After the scandal of women writing love letters to the and the revelation of an actual lesbian relationship between a  and a, the revue greatly limited itself in order to do away with the lesbian image. Women wore militaristic uniforms, heightening the attraction even more among some audience goers. There was another scandal in 1932 when, for the first time, one of the cut her hair short (previously all of the actresses had their hair long and the  simply hid their hair under hats). In August 1940, the actresses were even forbidden to answer fan mail and socialize with their admirers. In the years since then, the regulations have relaxed but not by much.

1958 stage elevator incident
On March 31st, 1958, during a Flower Troupe performance of Spring Dances: The Children in the Flowers, 21 year old musumeyaku Hiromi Katsuki died after her dress caught in one of the rotating elevation shafts during her descent on one of the stage elevators. Though that days performances were cancelled, they resumed the following day, modifying the performance to not include the use of any stage elevators.

Several factors are said to have led to the circumstances of the accident, including the rotation speed of the elevation shaft, the size of the actresses dress, the way in which the metal frame of the dress was secured to the actresses waist, as well as the inattention of the elevator attendant. The head of Takarazuka City's police department, who was part of the incidents investigation team, suggested that the company should be held criminally liable for professional negligence resulting in death or injury. Beyond rumors of a 50,000 yen fine, it has not been officially reported if any civil action was taken or if any fines were levied following the incident.

Though this event is not officially acknowledged by the company, there remains a cenotaph dedicated to Hiromi in the Takarazuka Music School parking lot, along the Mukogawa river.

Cosmos Troupe member suicide
On November 14, 2023, Takarazuka executives held a press conference to release findings by an independent committee following the suicide of a 25-year-old Cosmos Troupe member on September 30. The family of the deceased sought damages and an apology, alleging overwork and workplace harassment as contributors to their daughter's death. Records indicated that the troupe member logged 437 hours of work in August, well exceeding government standards for risk of occupation-related death. She had also told her family about being burned by hair irons, only sleeping 3 hours a day, and being told "all the junior members' failures are your responsibility" by senior troupe members. Takarazuka Revue chairman Kenshi Koba announced at the press conference that he would step down from his role on December 1, saying that the company did not sufficiently fulfill their duty of care for her safety. However they also stated instances of bullying or harassment could not be verified. On February 23 2024 it was reported that Takarazuka Revue had admitted to evidence of power harassment to the deceased family's legal team. They are yet to come to a settlement.

Former Cosmos Troupe members reported a culture of harassment towards junior members including berating, forced apologies, physical abuse, and food, shower, and sleep deprivation. In February 2023 Shūkan Bunshun reported on allegations of long-standing abuse, among them that junior Cosmos Troupe members were often intentionally burned on the forehead with hair irons by senior members. In response, Takarazuka executives had denied that any harassment took place and said that such allegations were hearsay.

title: Takarazuka Revue


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Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004

The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 (c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that amends the Scotland Act 1998 which established the Scottish Parliament.

Before it was amended by this Act, the Scotland Act 1998 provided for the constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (known also as Holyrood constituencies) to be the same as those for the United Kingdom Parliament (Westminster), except that Orkney and Shetland were separate constituencies. There are currently 73 constituency Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and 56 regional additional-member MSPs. (See Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions.) The Scotland Act also provided that the Boundary Commission for Scotland when reviewing the Westminster constituencies should use the same (larger) electoral quota as used in England. This has reduced the number of Scottish Westminster constituencies from 72 to 59. That in turn would have resulted in a reduction in the number of Holyrood constituencies and, because of the requirement in the Scotland Act for proportionality between constituency and regional additional-member seats, a pro rata reduction in the number of regional additional members.

As a consequence of this linkage in the Scotland Act there would therefore have been an automatic reduction in the size of the Scottish Parliament when the number of MPs at Westminster representing Scottish constituencies reduced at the 2005 general election.

In December 2001 the then Secretary of State for Scotland launched a public consultation seeking views on the case for retaining or ending the linking of Westminster and Holyrood constituency boundaries as is provided for by the Scotland Act, in the light of the experience gained from the operation of the Scottish Parliament. The majority of respondents supported retaining the present size of the Parliament, as is now provided for by this Act.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Afro–Latin Americans

Afro–Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans (sometimes Afro-Latinos) are Latin Americans of full or mainly sub-Saharan African ancestry.

The term Afro–Latin American is not widely used in Latin America outside academic circles. Normally Afro–Latin Americans are called Black (negro or moreno; negro or preto; noir) and are seen as part of the general Latin demographic, especially in countries where they have a considerable presence. Latin Americans of African ancestry may also be denoted by the prefix Afro- plus a specific nationality, such as Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban or Afro-Haitian.

The accuracy of statistics reporting on Afro–Latin Americans has been questioned, especially where they are derived from census reports in which the subjects choose their own designation, because in various countries the concept of African ancestry is viewed with differing attitudes. Afro-Latinos comprise the majority of the African diaspora.

History
In the 15th and 16th centuries, many people of African origin were brought to the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese, while some arrived as part of exploratory groups. A notable example of the latter was the black conquistador Juan Garrido, who introduced wheat to Mexico. Pedro Alonso Niño, traditionally considered the first of many New World explorers of African descent, was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Those who were directly from West Africa mostly arrived in Latin America as part of the Atlantic slave trade, as agricultural, domestic, and menial laborers and as mineworkers. They were also employed in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico) and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Valiente.) The Caribbean and South America received 95 percent of the Africans arriving in the Americas with only 5 percent going to Northern America.

Traditional terms for Afro–Latin Americans with their own developed culture include garífuna (in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize), cafuzo (in Brazil) and zambo in the Andes and Central America. Marabou is a term of Haitian origin denoting a Haitian of multiracial ethnicity.

The mix of these African cultures with the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and indigenous cultures of Latin America has produced many unique forms of language (e.g., Palenquero, Garífuna, and Creole), religions (e.g., Candomblé, Santería, and Vodou), music (e.g., kompa, salsa, Bachata, Punta, Palo de Mayo, plena, samba, merengue, cumbia) martial arts (capoeira) and dance (rumba, merengue).

As of 2015, Mexico and Chile are the only two Latin American countries yet to formally recognize their Afro–Latin American population in their constitutions. This is in contrast to countries like Brazil and Colombia that lay out the constitutional rights of their African-descendant population.

In May 2022, the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA) at Princeton University estimated that about 130 million people in Latin America are of African descent.

Racial and ethnic distinctions
Terms used within Latin America used in reference to African heritage include mulato (African – white mixture), zambo/chino (indigenous – African mixture) and pardo (African – native – white mixture) and mestizo, which refers to an indigenous – European mixture in all cases except for in Venezuela, where it is used in place of "pardo". The term mestizaje refers to the intermixing or fusing of ethnicities, whether by mere custom or deliberate policy. In Latin America this happened extensively between all ethnic groups and cultures, but usually involved European men and indigenous and African women.

Representation in the media
Afro–Latin Americans have limited media appearance; critics have accused the Latin American media of overlooking the African, indigenous and multiracial populations in favor of over-representation of often blond and blue/green-eyed white Latin Americans as they share features of typical Southern Europeans with some mestizo features to create a more distinct look often seen in popular telenovelas. According to May 2022 Pew Research survey, Afro-Latinos in the United States were about 3 times more likely than other Latino adults to report being unfairly stopped by police, about half of the Afro-Latinos interviewed were told to go back to their country, and a third of them were called offensive names.

Argentina
According to the Argentina national census of the year 2010, the total Argentine population is 40,117,096, from which 149,493 are of African ancestry. Traditionally it has been argued that the black population in Argentina declined since the early 19th century to insignificance. Many believe that the black population declined due to systematic efforts to reduce the black population in Argentina in order to mirror the racially homogeneous countries of Europe. However, the pilot census conducted in two neighborhoods of Argentina in 2006 on knowledge of ancestors from Sub-saharan Africa verified that 5% of the population knew of Black African ancestry, and another 20% thought that it was possible but were not sure. Given that European immigration accounted for more than half the growth of the Argentine population in 1960, some researchers argue that, rather than decrease, what occurred was a process of overlaying, creating the "invisibility" of the population of Afro-Argentines and their cultural roots.

Bolivia
African descendants in Bolivia account for about 1% of the population. They were brought in during the Spanish colonial times and the majority live in the Yungas.

In 1544, the Spanish Conquistadors discovered the silver mines in a city now called Potosí, which is on the base of Cerro Rico. They began to enslave the natives as workers in the mines. However, the health of the natives working in the mines became very poor, so the Spanish began to bring in enslaved Sub-Saharan Africans to work in the mines. Slaves were brought as early as the 16th century in Bolivia to work in mines. In Potosí during the 17th century 30,000 Africans were brought to work in the mines from which the total population of Potosí which numbered around 200,000. Slaves were more expensive in Bolivia then other parts of the Spanish colonies costing upwards to 800 pesos. This was due to the fact that they had to be bought from slave ports in the coastal region of the Spanish empire and had to trek from cities like Cartagena, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires to Bolivia.

Brazil
Around 10% of Brazil's 203 million people reported to the 2022 census as Black, and many more Brazilians have some degree of African descent.

Brazil experienced a long internal struggle over abolition of slavery and was the last Latin American country to do so. In 1850 it finally banned the importation of new slaves from overseas, after two decades since the first official attempts to outlaw the human traffic (in spite of illegal parties of Black African slaves that kept arriving until 1855). In 1864 Brazil emancipated the slaves, and on 28 September 1871, the Brazilian Congress approved the Rio Branco Law of Free Birth, which conditionally freed the children of slaves born from that day on. In 1887 army officers refused to order their troops to hunt runaway slaves, and in 1888 the Senate passed a law establishing immediate, unqualified emancipation. This law, known as Lei Áurea (Golden Law) was sanctioned by the regent Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter of the emperor Pedro II on 13 May 1888.

Preto and pardo are among five ethnic categories used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, along with branco ("white"), amarelo ("yellow", East Asian), and indígena (Native American). In 2022, 10.2% of the Brazilian population, some 20.7 million people, identified as preto, while 45.3% (92.1 million) identified as pardo. Brazilians have a complex classification system based on the prominence of skin and hair pigmentation, as well as other features associated with the concept of race (raça).

The Africans brought to Brazil belonged to two major groups: the West African and the Bantu people. The West Africans mostly belong to the Yoruba people, who became known as the "nagô". The word derives from ànàgó, a derogatory term used by the Dahomey to refer to Yoruba-speaking people. The Dahomey enslaved and sold large numbers of Yoruba, largely of Oyo heritage. Slaves descended from the Yoruba are strongly associated with the Candomblé religious tradition. Other slaves belonged to the Fon people and other neighboring ethnic groups.

Bantu people were mostly brought from present-day Angola and the Congo, most belonging to the Bakongo or Ambundu ethnic groups. Bantu slaves were also taken from the Shona kingdoms of Zimbabwe and coastal Mozambique. They were sent in large scale to Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Northeastern Brazil.

Chile
Chile enslaved about 6,000 Africans, about one-third of whom arrived before 1615; most were utilized in agriculture around Santiago. Today there are very few Afro-Chileans, at the most, fewer than 0.001% can be estimated from the 2006 population.

In 1984, a study called Sociogenetic Reference Framework for Public Health Studies in Chile, from the Revista de Pediatría de Chile determined an ancestry of 67.9% European, and 32.1% Native American. In 1994, a biological study determined that the Chilean composition was 64% European and 35% Amerindian. The recent study in the Candela Project establishes that the genetic composition of Chile is 52% of European origin, with 44% of the genome coming from Native Americans (Amerindians), and 4% coming from Africa, making Chile a primarily mestizo country with traces of African descent present in half of the population. Another genetic study conducted by the University of Brasília in several American countries shows a similar genetic composition for Chile, with a European contribution of 51.6%, an Amerindian contribution of 42.1%, and an African contribution of 6.3%. In 2015 another study established genetic composition in 57% European, 38% Native American, and 2.5% African.

Colombia
Afro-Colombians make up 9.34% of the population, almost 4.7 million people, according to a projection of the National Administration Department of Statistics (DANE). most of whom are concentrated on the northwest Caribbean coast and the Pacific coast in such departments as Chocó, although considerable numbers are also in Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla and San Andres Islands.

Approximately 4.4 million Afro-Colombians actively recognize their own black ancestry as a result of inter-racial relations with white and indigenous Colombians. They have been historically absent from high level government positions. Many of their long-established settlements around the Pacific coast have remained underdeveloped. In Colombia's ongoing internal conflict, Afro-Colombians are both victims of violence or displacement and members of armed factions, such as the FARC and the AUC. Afro-Colombians have played a role in contributing to the development of certain aspects of Colombian culture. For example, several of Colombia's musical genres, such as Cumbia, have African origins or influences. Some Afro-Colombians have also been successful in sports such as Faustino Asprilla, Freddy Rincón or María Isabel Urrutia.

San Basilio de Palenque is a village in Colombia that is noted for maintaining many African traditions. It was declared a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005. The residents of Palenque still speak Palenquero, a Spanish/African creole.

Ecuador
In 2006, Ecuador had a population of 13,547,510. According to the latest data from CIA World Factbook, the ethnic groups represented in Ecuador include mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white; 71.9%), Montubio (7.4%), Amerindian (7%), white (6.1%), Afroecuadorian (4.3%), mulato (1.9%), and black (1%). The Afro-Ecuadorian culture is found in the northwest coastal region of Ecuador and make up the majority (70%) in the province of Esmeraldas and the Chota Valley in the Imbabura Province. They can be also found in Ecuador's two largest cities, Quito and Guayaquil. The best known cultural influence known outside Ecuador is a distinctive kind of marimba music. From the Chota Valley there is Bomba (Ecuador) music which is very different from marimba from Esmeraldas.

Paraguay
Black Paraguayans are descended from enslaved West Africans brought to Paraguay beginning in the 16th century. They became a significant presence in the country, and made up 11% of the population in 1785. Most Afro-Paraguayans established communities in towns such as Areguá, Emboscada, and Guarambaré. Many achieved their freedom during the Spanish rule. In the capital Asunción, there is a community of 300 Afro-Paraguayan families in the Fernando de la Mora municipality.

Peru
Afro-Peruvians made up 9% of the Peruvian population (2,850 million)

Over the course of the slave trade, approximately 95,000 slaves were brought into Peru, with the last group arriving in 1850. Today, Afro-Peruvians reside mainly on the central and south coasts. Afro-Peruvians can also be found in significant numbers on the northern coast. Recently, it has been verified that the community with the greatest concentration of Afro-Peruvians is Yapatera in Morropón (Piura), made up of around 7,000 farmers who are largely descended from African slaves of "Malagasy" (Madagascar) origin. They are referred to as "malgaches" or "mangaches".

Afro-Peruvian music and culture was popularized in the 1950s by the performer Nicomedes Santa Cruz. Since 2006, his birthday, 4 June, has been celebrated in Peru as a Day of Afro-Peruvian Culture. Another key figure in the revival of Afro-Peruvian music is Susana Baca. Afro-Peruvian music was actually well known in Peru since the 1600s but oppressed by the Peruvian elite, as was Andean religion and language. Afro-Peruvian culture has not only thrived but influenced all aspects of Peruvian culture despite lacking any acknowledgment from mainstream media or history.

Uruguay
A 2009 DNA study in the American Journal of Human Biology showed the genetic composition of Uruguay as primarily European, with Native American ancestry ranging from one to 20 percent and sub-Saharan African "from seven to 15 percent (depending on region)". Enslaved Africans and their descendants figured prominently in the founding of Uruguay.

In the late 18th century, Montevideo became a major arrival port for slaves, most brought from Portuguese colonies of Africa and bound for the Spanish colonies of the New World, the mines of Peru and Bolivia, and the fields of Uruguay. In the 19th century, when Uruguay joined other colonies in fighting for independence from Spain, Uruguayan national hero Jose Artigas led an elite division of black troops against the colonists. One of his top advisors was Joaquín Lenzina, known as Ansina, a freed slave who composed musical odes about his commander's exploits and is regarded by Afro-Uruguayans as an unheralded father of the nation.

Venezuela
Black Venezuelans are mostly descendants of enslaved Africans brought to Venezuela from the 17th to the 19th century to work the coffee and cocoa crops. Most Black Venezuelans live in the North-central region, in the coastal towns Barlovento, Northern Yaracuy, Carabobo and Aragua States, and Eastern Vargas State; but also in several towns and villages in areas in South Lake Maracaibo (Zulia State) and Northern Merida State in the Andes, among others. They have kept their traditions and culture alive, especially through music.

Venezuela is a very racially mixed nation, which makes it difficult to individually identify and/or distinguish their ethno-racial background with precision. Research in 2001 on genetic diversity by the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, IVIC) in which the population was compared to the historical patterns of the colonial castes. According to the last population census in Venezuela conducted by the National Institute Estadististica (INE), 2.8% of the country's population identifies as afrodescendientes of the national total, which is 181 157 result in the number of Venezuelans with African racial characteristics. However, most Venezuelans have some Sub-Saharan African heritage, even if they identify as white.

Afro-Venezuelans have stood out as sportsmen. Many Afro-Venezuelans are in the Major League Baseball and other sports - for example, former NBA/Houston Rockets forward Carl Herrera. However, most of them do not describe themselves as Afro-Venezuelan, but as Latinos or Hispanics or simply Venezuelans. Afro-Venezuelans have also stood out in the arts, especially in music; for example: Magdalena Sánchez, Oscar D'León, Morella Muñoz, Allan Phillips, Pedro Eustache, Frank Quintero, and many others. Miss Venezuela 1998, Carolina Indriago, Miss Venezuela Universe 2006, Jictzad Viña, and Miss Venezuela World 2006, Susan Carrizo are mulatto.

Central America
The Afro–Latin Americans of Central America come from the Caribbean coast. The countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, are of Garífuna, Afro-Caribbean and/or Mestizo heritage, as well as of Miskito heritage. Those of Costa Rica and Panama are mostly of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Many Afro-Caribbean islanders arrived in Panama to help build the Panama Canal and to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to work in the banana and sugar-cane plantations.

Belize
Belizean culture is a mix of African, European, and Mayan but only 21% of the population is considered to be of African descent. The main community of African descent are the Creoles and Garifuna concentrated from the Cayo District to the Belize District and Stann Creek District (Dangriga) on the Caribbean Sea. Belize City, on the Caribbean coast, is the center of West African culture in Belize, with its population being of mixed Black African, Maya, and European.

Costa Rica
About 8% of the population is of African descent or Mulatto (mix of European and African) who are called Afro-Costa Ricans representing more than 390,000 people spread nowadays all over the country, English-speaking descendants of 19th century Afro-Jamaican immigrant workers. The indigenous population numbers around 2.5%. In the Guanacaste Province, a significant portion of the population descends from a mix of local Amerindians, Africans and Spaniards. Most Afro-Costa Ricans are found in the Limón Province and the Central Valley.

El Salvador
Only 0.13% of the population identifies as black in El Salvador. Approximately 10,000 African slaves were brought to El Salvador. The African population, creating Afro-Mestizos in the certain areas where the Africans were brought. El Salvador has no English Antillean (West Indian), Garifuna, and Miskito population, largely due to laws banning the immigration of Africans into the country in the 1930s; these laws were revoked in the 1980s.

Guatemala
According to the 2018 census, 0.3% of the Guatemalan population identifies as having African ancestry. The main community of African heritage is the Garifuna, concentrated in Livingston and Puerto Barrios. The rest are Afro-Caribbean and mulattoes who live in Puerto Barrios and Morales. All these places belong to the Izabal department, located on the Caribbean coast. Because of unemployment and lack of opportunities, many Garifuna from Guatemala have left the country and moved to Belize and the United States. Also many people of African descent are located in different regions of the country, but most notable are in Amatitlán, San Jerónimo, and Jutiapa, although most of them may not recognize it because the loss of culture in these places. Based on oral local history in San Jeronimo of Alta Vera Paz, it is told that a ship carrying enslaved people from Africa broke on the shores of Guatemala prior to the European invasion. The ship had broken on the shores and the enslaved people became free people with the enslavers dead. The oral history continues to claim that the name Alta Verapaz – the land of " High True Peace" was given to that territory by the Spaniards after conquering the people of African and Mayan descent through religion – the cross – and not the sword as in other parts of Guatemala. The reason is Africans and Mayans had joined forces and defeated the Spanish Sword. Africans and Mayans have also intermarried tracing back generations prior to the Garifuna along the Coast. Many more Africans joined VeraPaz once the Spaniards conquered the area through religion, bringing about large sugar cane plantations that required more laborers, and unfortunately enslaved peoples.

Many of the slaves brought from Africa during colonial times came to Guatemala to work on cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee plantations. Most were brought as slaves and also servants by European conquistadors. The main reason for slavery in Guatemala was because of the large sugar-cane plantations and haciendas located on Guatemala's Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Slavery didn't last too long during those times and all slaves and servants brought were later freed. They spread to different locations, primarily Guatemala's north, south and east. It is said that these freed slaves later mixed with Europeans, Native Indigenous, and Creoles (Criollos) of non-African descent.

The national folk instrument, the marimba, has its origins in Africa and was brought to Guatemala and the rest of Central America by African slaves during colonial times. The melodies played on it show Native American, West African and European influences in both form and style.

Honduras
According to Henry Gates: "Estimates of people of African descent in Honduras vary widely, from 100,000 to 320,000 (1.8 to 5.8 percent of the country's 5.8 million people in 1994)."

If one uses the blood quantum definition of blackness, then blacks came to Honduras early in the colonial period. One of the mercenaries who aided Pedro de Alvarado in his conquest of Honduras in 1536 was a black slave working as a mercenary to earn his freedom. Alvarado sent his own slaves from Guatemala to work the placer gold deposits in western Honduras as early as 1534. The earliest black slaves consigned to Honduras were part of a license granted to the Bishop Cristóbal de Pedraza in 1547 to bring 300 slaves into Honduras. Honduras has the highest African ancestry in Central America from the Garifuna, Miskitos, Mulattoes, and Africans which make 30% of the country.

The self-identifying black population in Honduras is mostly of West Indian (Antillean origin), descendants of indentured laborers brought from Jamaica, Haiti, and other Caribbean Islands or of Garifuna (or Black Caribs) origin, a people of Black African ancestry who were expelled from the island of Saint Vincent after an uprising against the English and in 1797 and were exiled to Roatan. From there they made their way along the Caribbean coast of Belize, mainland Honduras and Nicaragua. Large Garifuna settlements in Honduras today include Trujillo, La Ceiba, and Triunfo de la Cruz. Even though they only came to Honduras in 1797, the Garifuna are one of the seven officially recognized indigenous groups in Honduras.

Slaves on the north coast mixed with the Miskito Indians, forming a group referred to as the Zambo Miskito. Some Miskito consider themselves to be purely indigenous, denying this Black African heritage. They do not, however, identify as such but rather as mestizo. The Black Creoles of the Bay Islands are today distinguished as an ethnic group for their racial difference from the mestizos and blacks, and their cultural difference as English-speaking Protestants. There has been practically no ethnographic research conducted with this population.

All these circumstances led to a denial by many Hondurans of their Black African heritage which reflects in the census even to this day. "Blacks were more problematic as national symbols because at the time they were neither seen to represent modernity nor autochthony, and their history of dislocation from Africa means they have no great pre-Columbian civilization in the Americas to call upon as symbols of a glorious past. Thus Latin American states often end up with a primarily "Indo-Hispanic" mestizaje where the Indian is privileged as the roots of the nation and blackness is either minimized or completely erased."

Nicaragua
About 9% of Nicaragua's population is African and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean coast. Afro-Nicaraguans are found on the autonomous regions of RAAN and RAAS. The African population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of laborers brought mostly from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands when the region was a British protectorate. There is also a smaller number of Garífuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent. The Garífuna live along in Orinoco, La Fe and Marshall Point, communities settled at Laguna de Perlas.

Five main distinct ethnic groups exist: The Creoles who descend from Anglo-Caribbean countries and many of whom still speak Nicaragua English Creole, the Miskito Sambus descendants of Spanish slaves and indigenous Central Americans who still speak Miskito and/or Miskito Coast Creole, the Garifunas descendents of Zambos (Caribs, Arawaks, and shipwrecked maroons) expelled from St. Vincent who speak Garifuna, the Rama Cay zambos a subset of the Miskito who speak Rama Cay Creole, and the descendants of those enslaved by the Spanish.

Panama
Black people in Panama are the descendants of West African slaves as well as black people from Caribbean islands who arrived in the early 1900s for the construction of the Panama Canal. The Afro Colonials are the group of Hispanics, while the Antillanos are those of West Indian descent.

Famous Afro-Panamanians include boxer Eusebio Pedroza.

Cuba
According to a 2001 national census which surveyed 11.2 million Cubans, 1.1 million Cubans described themselves as Black, while 5.8 million considered themselves to be "mulatto" or "mestizo" or "javao" or "moro". Many Cubans still locate their origins in specific African ethnic groups or regions, particularly Yoruba, Congo and Igbo, but also Arará, Carabalí, Mandingo, Fula and others, as well as a small minority of people who migrated in from surrounding Caribbean countries like Haiti and Jamaica.

An autosomal study from 2014 has found out the genetic ancestry in Cuba to be 72% European, 20% African and 8% Native American.

Among the most famous Afro-Cubans are writers Nicolás Guillén, Gastón Baquero, and Nancy Morejón; musicians Celia Cruz and Benny Moré— Compay Segundo, Rubén González, Orlando "Cachaito" López, Omara Portuondo, and Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club; jazz musicians including Mario Bauzá, Mongo Santamaría, Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Anga Díaz, X Alfonso, Pablo Milanés; other musicians such as Bebo Valdés, Israel "Cachao" López, Orestes López, Richard Egües, Dámaso Pérez Prado, Christina Milian and Tata Güines; and politicians Juan Almeida and Esteban Lazo.

Dominican Republic
According to the recent sources, 11% of the Dominican population is black, 16% is white and 73% is mixed from white European and black African and Native American ancestry. Other sources give similar figures, but also without naming a specific study. Other estimates puts the Dominican population at 90% Black and Mulatto, and 10% White.

Some Afrocentric commentators and race/ethnicity scholars have been harshly critical of Dominicans of mixed racial background for their reluctance to self-identify as "Black". However, this reluctance is shared by many people of multiracial background, who find inappropriate to identify with only one side of their ancestry. Those people refuse to express a preference for any of the races that make up their background, and resent being ascribed to any single race.

Dominican culture is a mixture of Taino Amerindian, Spanish European, and West African origins. While Taino influences are present in many Dominican traditions, the European and West African influences are the most noticeable.

Afro-Dominicans can be found all over the island, but they makeup the vast majorities in the southwest, south, east, and the north parts of the country. In El Cibao one can find people of either European, Mixed, and African descent.

Most Afro-Dominicans descend from the Bantu tribes of the Congo region of Central Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of Congo), and as well as the Ga people of west Ghana.

Notable Dominicans whose physical features suggest full or predominant Black African ancestry include bachata singer Antony Santos, baseballer Sammy Sosa and salsa singer José Alberto "El Canario", and basketballer Al Horford, among others. However, there is no reliable procedure to ascertain the degree, if any, to which their ancestry is Black African.

A system of racial stratification was imposed on Santo Domingo by Spain, as elsewhere in the Spanish Empire.

Guadeloupe
The population of Guadeloupe, an overseas region of France, is 405,739 (1 January 2013 est.); 80% of the population has African and African-white-Indian mixture which emphasizes its diversity. Their West African ancestors were imported from the Bight of Biafra, West Central Africa and the Guinean Coast for sugar cane plantation labor during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Antillean Creole, which is a French-based creole, is the local language widely spoken among the natives of the island and even the immigrants who have been living on the island for a couple of years. French, the official language, is still the most common language used and heard on the island. Used during more intimate/friendly conversations, Guadeloupean people switch to French, which is their first and native language, when in public.

Haiti
The population of Haiti is 9.9 million, of which 80% are of African descent while 15-20% is mulatto and white. Slavery in Haiti was established by the Spanish and French colonialists. Many Haitians are descendants of Taino or Caribs who cohabited with the African descendant population.

Haiti is an Afro-Latin nation with strong African contributions to the culture as well as its language, music and religion with a fusion of French and Taino, with a sizable degree of Spaniard; all relate and are not limited to its food, art, music, folk religion and other customs. Arab customs are also present in their society today.

Martinique
The population of Martinique, an overseas region of France, is 390,371 (1 January 2012 est.); 80% of the population has African and African-white-Indian mixture which emphasizes its diversity. Their West African ancestors were imported from the Bight of Biafra, West Central Africa and the Guinean Coast for sugar cane plantation labor during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Antillean Creole, which is a French-based creole, is the local language widely spoken among the natives of the island and even the immigrants who have been living on the island for a couple of years. However, French, the official language, is still the most common language used and heard on the island. Used during more intimate/friendly conversations, Martinican people switch to French, which is their first and native language, when in public.

Saint Lucia and Dominica
The population of Saint Lucia is 179,651 (2021) and Dominica is  72,412 (2021); 75-85% of the population in both islands has African and African-white-Indian and Kaliango mixture.

The French were the first Europeans to settle on the islands. England and France fought 14 times for control of Saint Lucia and Dominica also went back and forth between France and Britain, and the rule of the islands changed frequently.

Jounen Kwéyòl (Creole Day) is celebrated in the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia, on the last Friday of October and the last Sunday of October to celebrate the mixed culture of the Islands mainly highlighting their French background along with their French/African dialect known on the islands as Kwéyòl. Both islands host cultural events and festivals which showcase different elements of their heritage and culture and they spend time reflecting on the importance of protecting their heritage.

Antillean Creole, which is a French-based creole, is the local language widely spoken among the natives of the islands and even the immigrants who have been living on the island for a couple of years. Dominican and Saint Lucian people switch to English which is their official language to conduct business and education or speak in their native language French Creole, when in public.

Puerto Rico
According to the 2020 U.S. Census taken in Puerto Rico, 17.1% of Puerto Ricans identified as being white, 7% of the population as being black or African American and 75.3% as mixed or of another ethnicity. An island-wide mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) study conducted by the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez revealed that 61% of Puerto Ricans have maternal Native American ancestry, 26.4% have maternal West or Central African ancestry, and 12.6% have maternal European ancestry. On the other hand, the Y chromosome evidence showed Puerto Ricans' patrilineage to be approximately 75% European, 20% African, and less than 5% indigenous.

An interesting anecdote to consider was that during this whole period, Puerto Rico had laws like the Regla del Sacar or Gracias al Sacar by which a person of African ancestry could be considered legally white so long as they could prove that at least one person per generation in the last four generations had also been legally white descent. Therefore, people of African ancestry with known European lineage were classified as "whites", the opposite of the "one-drop rule" in the United States.

These critics maintain that a majority of Puerto Ricans are ethnically mixed, but do not feel the need to identify as such. They argue, furthermore, that Puerto Ricans tend to assume that they are of African, Native American, and European ancestry and only identify themselves as "mixed" if parents visibly "appear" to be of some other ethnicity. It should also be noted that Puerto Rico underwent a "whitening" process while under U.S. rule. The census-takers at the turn of the 20th Century recorded a huge disparity in the number of "black" and "white" Puerto Ricans (both, erroneous skin classifications) between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. The term "black" suddenly began to disappear from one census to another (within 10 years' time), possibly due to redefinition. It also appears that the "black" element within the culture was simply disappearing possibly due to the popular idea that in the U.S. one could only advance economically and socially if one were to pass for "white".

Misinformation of ethnic populations within Puerto Rico also existed under Spanish rule, when the Native American (Taino) populations were recorded as being "extinct". Biological science has now rewritten their history books. These tribes were not voluntary travelers, but have since blended into the mainstream Puerto Rican population (as all the others have been) with Taino ancestry being the common thread that binds.

Many persons of African descent in Puerto Rico are found along coastal areas, especially in the northeast of the island, areas traditionally associated with sugar cane plantations. These Afro-Puerto Ricans make up a significant percentage of the population especially in the cities and towns of San Juan, Loiza, Carolina, Patillas, Canóvanas, Maunabo, Río Grande, Culebra, Luquillo, Cataño, Ceiba, Juncos, Fajardo, and Guayama. African ancestry, and Puerto Ricans of notable African descent are found throughout the island, although they might not regularly associate themselves with an American concept of blackness. Due to the DNA evidence that is being presented by UPR at Mayaguez, many African bloodlines have also been recorded in the central mountains of the island, though not written in the Spanish history books of the time. Consequently, Taino bloodlines have begun appearing in the coastal towns. All of this suggests that escaped enslaved Africans ran off to the mountains to escape the slaveowners, while some Tainos remained close to their main staple food, fish.

The Puerto Rican musical genres of bomba and plena are of West African and Caribbean origin, respectively; they are danced to during parties and West African-derived festivals. Most Puerto Ricans who have African ancestry are descendants of enslaved Congo, Yoruba, Igbo and Fon from West and Central Africa. After the abolition of slavery in 1873 and the Spanish–American War of 1898, a number of African Americans have also migrated and settled in Puerto Rico.

Three of the most famous Afro–Latin Americans are Puerto Rican Boxer Felix "Tito" Trinidad, Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente and Bernie Williams-Figueroa Jr., New York Yankees outfielder and jazz guitarist.

Mexico

The vast majority of contemporary Afro-Mexicans inhabit the south central & southern region of Mexico; those who migrated north in the colonial period assimilated into the general population. Some Afro-Mexican facts:
 * Mexico's second president, Vicente Guerrero, an Afro-Mexican, issued an official decree abolishing slavery and emancipating all slaves in 1821, during his short term as president. He also attempted to change the Official Census by aiming to get rid of the "race" category.
 * Race was considered for the first time by the Encuesto Intercensal in 2015, which revealed that 1.2% of Mexicans identify as Afro-Mexican. Over half of these individuals also identified as indigenous.
 * Gaspar Yanga founded the first free African township in the Americas in 1609.
 * A Black man named Esteban el Negro (Steven the Black), a North African Moor from Spain, searched for the fabled city of Cíbola with Cabeza de Vaca.
 * Veracruz, Campeche, Pánuco and Acapulco were the main ports for the entrance of African slaves.
 * In the past, offspring of Black African/Amerindian mixtures were called jarocho (wild pig), chino or lobo (wolf). Today jarocho refers to all inhabitants of the state of Veracruz, without regard to ancestry.
 * According to the 2020 (INEGI census), the countries population is now 2.4-3%

United States
Many Afro-Latino immigrants have arrived, in waves, over decades, to the United States, especially from the Caribbean, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. In the state of California, the dominant population consisted of people of color, but as the years progressed the percentage has declined severely (or at least the way Californian residents claim to identify themselves has shifted towards a White population). A Pew Research Center survey of Latino adults shows that one-quarter of all U.S. Latinos self-identify as Afro-Latino, Afro-Caribbean or of African descent with roots in Latin America. This is the first time a nationally representative survey in the U.S. has asked the Latino population directly whether they considered themselves Afro-Latino. According to another Pew Research Center survey, "Afro-Latino: A deeply rooted identity among U.S. Hispanics" show some more statistics on how Afro-Latinos identify. As of October 2014, 39% of U.S. Afro-Latinos identify as white, 24% of them identify as just Hispanic, 18% as Black, 9% as mixed, and 4% as American Indian. Among the Chicano/a population, people who are both Black and Chicano/a may identify as AfroChicano/a. A May 2022 Pew Research Center survey stated that 12% of adult Latinos identified themselves as Afro-Latino, comprising an estimated total of six million people.

Noted Afro–Latin American people

 * Alessandro Santos – Brazilian soccer player
 * Amara La Negra – Dominican singer, reality star and activist
 * Anderson Salles – Brazilian soccer player
 * André Bahia – Brazilian soccer player
 * Anténor Firmin – Haitian anthropologist, journalist, and politician
 * Antônio Géder – Brazilian soccer player
 * Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales – second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence
 * Ary Borges – Brazilian soccer player
 * Brian Flores – Honduran American Football coach for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL
 * Bruno Cortez – Brazilian soccer player
 * Bruno Henrique – Brazilian soccer player
 * Bruno Viana – Brazilian soccer player
 * Carlos Alberto – Brazilian soccer player
 * Carlos Gilberto Nascimento Silva – Brazilian soccer player
 * Carlos Santos de Jesus – Brazilian soccer player
 * Celia Cruz – Cuban singer of Latin music
 * Christina Milian – Cuban-American singer-songwriter and actress
 * Clara Nunes – Brazilian singer
 * Claudemir Jerônimo Barreto – Brazilian soccer player
 * Dania Ramirez – Dominican-American actress
 * Danilo dos Santos de Oliveira – Brazilian soccer player
 * Darlan Cunha – Brazilian actor
 * Dascha Polanco – Dominican actress
 * David Green – Afro-Nicaraguan-born American MLB Player
 * David Ortiz – Dominican-American former MLB player for the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins
 * Dianne Morales (born 1967) – American non-profit executive and political candidate
 * Douglas Franco Teixeira – Brazilian soccer player
 * Douglas Silva – Brazilian actor
 * Edwidge Danticat – award-winning Haitian American novelist
 * Ebert Willian Amâncio – Brazilian soccer player
 * Eliezer Gomes – Brazilian actor
 * Fernando Luiz Roza – Brazilian soccer player
 * Formiga – Brazilian soccer player
 * Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos – Brazilian soccer player
 * Gabriel Magalhães – Brazilian soccer player
 * Gerson Santos da Silva – Brazilian soccer player
 * Gilberto Gil – Brazilian singer and politician
 * Gina Torres – Cuban-American actress
 * Grande Otelo – Brazilian actor
 * Hanna Gabriel – Costa Rican junior middleweight boxer with several international victories
 * Immortal Technique – Peruvian American Afro-Peruvian rapper & activist.
 * Hilton Moreira – Brazilian soccer player
 * Jair Ventura Filho – Brazilian soccer player
 * Jean-Michel Basquiat – Haitian American artist
 * Jemerson de Jesus Nascimento – Brazilian soccer player
 * João Alves – Brazilian soccer player
 * Johnny Laboriel – Mexican singer
 * Jonathan Cafú – Brazilian soccer player
 * José María Morelos – Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel leader in the Mexican War of Independence
 * Juan Gualberto Gómez – Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain
 * Juan Silveira dos Santos – Brazilian soccer player
 * Jucilei da Silva – Brazilian soccer player
 * Julio Teherán (born 1991) – MLB baseball player
 * June Beer – Afro-Nicaraguan artist and poet
 * Kalimba Marichal – Mexican singer/songwriter
 * Kléber de Carvalho Corrêa – Brazilian soccer player
 * Lázaro Ramos – Brazilian actor
 * Leônidas da Silva – Brazilian soccer player
 * Lincoln Henrique – Brazilian soccer player
 * Luiz Adriano – Brazilian soccer player
 * Luiz Paulo Hilário – Brazilian soccer player
 * Maicosuel Reginaldo de Matos – Brazilian soccer player
 * Machado de Assis – Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer
 * Marcelo Antônio Guedes Filho – Brazilian soccer player
 * Maria Bethânia – Brazilian MPB singer
 * Marcos Arouca da Silva – Brazilian soccer player
 * María del Tránsito Sorroza – Afro-Ecuadorian midwife and formerly enslaved woman
 * Saint Martin de Porres, O.P. – Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order, beatified and later canonized
 * Mellow Man Ace – Afro-Cuban American Rapper
 * Margareth Menezes – Brazilian singer from Salvador, Bahia
 * Moisés Roberto Barbosa – Brazilian soccer player
 * Neuciano de Jesus Gusmão – Brazilian soccer player
 * Nilo Peçanha – Brazilian politician, Governor of Rio de Janeiro State, Vice-president of Brazil then President of Brazil
 * Oscar D'Leon – Venezuelan musician of salsa music
 * Patrick de Paula – Brazilian soccer player
 * Pedro A. Campos – Puerto Rican attorney, politician, and leading figure in the Puerto Rican independence movement
 * Pelé (born 1940) – Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward
 * Ramires Santos do Nascimento – Brazilian soccer player
 * Raúl Cuero – Colombian professor of microbiology
 * Robinho – Brazilian soccer player
 * Robson Bambu – Brazilian soccer player
 * Ronaldinho – Brazilian professional footballer who played as a midfielder and as a forward
 * Rosario Dawson – American actress, of Afro-Cuban heritage
 * Rubén Rada – Afro-Uruguayan percussionist, composer and singer
 * Selenis Leyva – Cuban-American actress
 * Sidnei Rechel da Silva Júnior – Brazilian soccer player
 * Susana Baca – Peruvian singer-songwriter, teacher, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and Latin Grammy Award winner
 * Vágner Love – Brazilian soccer player
 * Vicente Guerrero – leading revolutionary general of the Mexican War of Independence who later served as President of Mexico
 * Vinícius Júnior – Brazilian soccer player
 * Wifredo Lam – Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the Afro-Cuban spirit and culture
 * Willian Borges da Silva – Brazilian soccer player
 * Yasiel Puig – Cuban-born American MLB baseball player
 * Zé Roberto – Brazilian soccer player
 * Zoe Saldana – American Actress

Books

 * Afro-Latin America Series Cambridge University Press

title: Afro–Latin Americans


text:
Woolston Park

Woolston Park is a modern park that is situated in the civil parish of Woolston, Warrington, in the English county of Cheshire.

Woolston Park covers 56 acres (230,000 m²) and was officially opened in 1977. It was created from neglected farmland to provide a valuable refuge for people and wildlife amongst the rapidly expanding local community. Running through the middle of the "linear" section runs "Spittle Brook", a small stream often polluted with chemicals from the Grange Industrial Estate. The majority of the landscape of the park is manmade with soil being transported to build hills. The park is mainly open grassland for recreation. It is bordered by Hillock Lane playing fields. In its centre are the "Jubilee Gardens" commemorating the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Woolston Park has a number of football pitches used by Monks club and rugby posts; two cricket strips; several playing areas including the "A B frame" and a new play area which includes a zip wire. The park is popular with dog walkers.

title: Woolston Park


text:
Second Mithridatic War

The Second Mithridatic War (83–81 BC) was one of three wars fought between Pontus and the Roman Republic. This war was fought between King Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman general Lucius Licinius Murena.

History
At the conclusion of the First Mithridatic War, Lucius Cornelius Sulla had come to a hasty agreement with Mithridates because Sulla had to return to Rome to deal with his political enemies. The peace treaty allowed Mithridates to remain in control of his Kingdom of Pontus, but he had to relinquish his claim to Asia Minor and respect pre-war borders. Murena, as Sulla's legate, was stationed in Asia as commander of the two legions formerly under the command of Gaius Flavius Fimbria. From Appian's work on this war (The Mithridatic Wars), we can deduce that it was put in command over Phrygia, which had been annexed to the Attalid kingdom in 188 BC, and, possibly, Cappadocia, which was an ally of Rome.

Appian wrote that Murena marched across Cappadocia and attacked Comana, a town which belonged to Mithridates, because of suspicions that the latter was preparing for war against the Romans. Mithridates was fitting a fleet and raising an army to deal with a rebellion by the Colchians and the tribes around the Cimmerian Bosphorus (the Kerch Strait). It was the scale of these preparations and the fact that Mithridates had not restored the whole of Cappadocia to their king, Ariobarzanes I, who was a Roman ally, which led to this impression. Mithridates sent envoys to invoke the peace treaty. Murena replied that he did not see any treaties because Sulla had not written it down before he returned to Greece. He then began looting and then returned to Cappadocia to winter there. Mithridates sent envoys to Rome to complain. In 82 BC Murena seized 400 villages which belonged to Mithridates, who did not try to counter this, preferring to wait for the return of the ambassadors. Murena returned to Phrygia and Galatia loaded with plunder. He was reached by a messenger of the senate who told him that the senate ordered him to leave Mithridates alone as he had not broken the treaty. However, he did not bring a decree and he was seen talking to Murena alone.

Murena invaded Mithridates’ territory. The latter thought that this was done under the orders of Rome and sent Gordius, his commander, to retaliate on Roman villages. Gordius seized a large number of animals and property and advanced against Murena. When Mithridates arrived there, a tough battle was fought and Murena was defeated. Murena fled to Phrygia, harassed by the enemy. This led many states in Asia Minor which had sided with Rome to switch allegiance. Mithridates drove all the Roman garrisons out of Cappadocia. Sulla disapproved of a war against Mithridates because he had not broken the treaty. Aulus Gabinius was sent to tell Murena that the order not to fight Mithridates was to be taken seriously. Gabinius then arranged a conference with Mithridates and Ariobarzanes I to reconcile them. Mithridates betrothed his four-year-old daughter to Ariobarzanes and stipulated that Ariobarzanes was to retain the part of Cappadocia he held at the time and also have another part. Murena was recalled to Rome.

Mennon wrote that when Mithridates sent his envoys to Murena, he ignored them because they were mostly Greek philosophers who disparaged Mithridates. He installed Ariobarzanes as king of Cappadocia and founded the city of Licinia near the border with Pontus. Meanwhile, Murena and Mithridates both sent envoys to the Heracleians to bid for their alliance. These replied that they could hardly protect themselves and could not help others. Some of Murena's advisers said that he should attack Sinope and then march on the capital of Pontus. If he seized it, other towns could be won over. Mithridates protected Sinope with a large force and prepared for war. At first he had the advantage, but then the battle was even. This blunted the two sides' appetite for war. Mithridates went further east and Murena returned to Asia.

This war was followed by the Third Mithridatic War.

Ancient sources
post-Hadrian annalist survives in retrieved fragments, from books XXVI, XXVIII, XXXIII, XXXV and XXXVI of his history, in 5th century uncials of African origin at the bottom of a ter scriptus manuscript palimpsest: see L. D. Reynolds (ed.) Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics (Oxford, 1983).
 * Appian: The Roman History: (The Foreign Wars and The Civil Wars), Independently published, 2017; ISBN 978-1520368993
 * Karl Müller (ed.) Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, 1841–1870 (FHG)
 * Felix Jacoby (ed. & critical commentary), Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, 1923–1959, unfinished (FGrH)
 * Granius Licinianus fragmenta

– ed. Michael Flemisch Grani Liciniani quae supersunt (G.B. Teubner, Stuttgart, 1904; reprint 1967)

– ed. N. Crinti (Leipzig, 1981)

9th century epitome in the ΒΙΒΛΙΟΘΗΚΗ of Photius of Byzantium (codex 224)
 * Memnon of Herakleia Pontike epitome

– René Henry (ed.), Photius Bibliothèque Tome IV: Codices 223–229 (Association Guillaume Budé, Paris, 1965), pp. 48–99:  Greek text with French translation

– K. Müller (ed.) FHG III, 525:  Greek text with Latin translation

– F. Jacoby (ed.) FGrH no.434:  Greek text, detailed commentary in German

– K. Müller (ed) FHG III, 602ff.
 * Phlegon of Tralles fragmenta

– F. Jacoby (ed.) FGrH no.257

– English translations and commentary by William Hansen, Phlegon of Tralles' Book of Marvels, University of Exeter Press, 1996

Modern works
RE = Real-Encyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, eds. Pauly, Wissowa, Kroll
 * Abbreviations

 * Major studies
 * Gelzer, M., "L. Licinius Lucullus cos.74", RE vol.XIII (1926), s. v. Licinius no.104, colls.376–414.
 * Van Ooteghem, J., Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Brussels, 1959
 * Keaveney, A., Lucullus. A Life., London/New York, Routledge, 1992; ISBN 0-415-03219-9.

 * Shorter articles and summaries
 * Scardigli, B., "Sertorio: Problemi cronologici", Athenaeum 49 (1971), 229–270
 * Glew, Dennis G., "Between the Wars: Mithridates Eupator and Rome, 85–73 B.C.", Chiron 11 (1981), 109-130

title: Second Mithridatic War