Namely, the "Upper Course" (kōtō-ka [ja]) at the Iwate Women's Normal School [ja]'s Attached Elementary School. In pre-war Japan, there was a six-year "Lower Course" followed by a two-year "Upper Course". So this was effectively middle school.[4]
This was Tsukiji Little Theater [ja], forced to change its name to Kokumin Shingekijō (People's Shingeki Theatre) due to wartime regulation.[48]
Akiko Utsumi (stage name Machiko Kako) was Sonoi's junior at the Takarazuka Revue; She was by then married to Shigenori Utsumi [ja] a writer/director for the Takarazuka Revue.[70]