Words of admonition from the grand master of the tekiya echoing at a festival in northern Kanto, mid-1980s

Words of admonition from the grand master of the tekiya echoing at a festival in northern Kanto, mid-1980s
The words of the grand master standing on the stage of the ceremony were not mere rituals, but the very philosophy behind the festival and the city. It is important that the people who come to the festival leave with happy memories," he said. The first thing the master of the tekiya, who is often thought of as a rough-and-tumble world, said was not about money, but about memories, which is the fundamental condition for the market to continue to operate the following year and beyond. The satisfaction of customers was the lifeblood of the market and the foundation of the street vendor culture itself.
In the mid-1980s, before the Violence Prevention Law, there was a nationwide movement to eliminate gangs, and even the slightest disorderly behavior would be reported in the newspapers, and there was a danger that stalls would be banned from shrine festivals. Therefore, the words of the boss were both an internal control measure and a practical guideline for coexistence with the local community.
Tekiya are generally seen as a violent organization, but in reality they are a professional group responsible for delicate coordination of festival operations, security, trouble-shooting, and administrative negotiation. To complete the festival without delay, many arrangements are necessary, such as securing the route, noise control, and preventing drunken revelers, and Oyabun's words showed the main points in a single blow.
In the 1980s, Japan was on the eve of a bubble economy, with the rise of large-scale commercial facilities and the decline of the old fair scene, but there was a strong movement to preserve local festivals. Oyabun's speech was an attempt to redefine street vendor culture as a customer business rather than a rough-and-tumble one, and it was also a declaration of management philosophy to protect the future of the city for the next year and the next.