The Great Oyabashira's Warning Speech Resonates at the North Kanto Festival Mid-1980s

The Great Oyabashira's Warning Speech Resonates at the North Kanto Festival Mid-1980s
The speech given by the grand master on the podium at the ceremony clearly demonstrated his business philosophy to protect the festival and the city, betraying preconceived notions of a world of rough and tumble affairs. The first words he spoke, "It is important that people who come to the festival leave with pleasant memories," were the most important guideline for street vendors, and contained practical insights that would lead to the survival of the market the following year if the customers left satisfied. The following admonition, "Don't be violent or cause trouble," was also a practical risk management measure to protect the survival of the stalls in the midst of the movement to eliminate gangs that was gaining strength in the mid-1980s. Even the slightest trouble could result in being locked out of a shrine or government office, so strict internal discipline was a matter of life and death. The tekiya were often misunderstood as a violent group, but in fact they were a
professional group responsible for advanced coordination in areas such as festival management, security, route design, and trouble-shooting. His speech condensed his philosophy for preserving the visible economic sphere of festivals even in the midst of changes in the commercial structure on the eve of the bubble economy.