Osaka&#8217;s Tenjin Festival, one of the &#8220;Three Great Festivals of Japan,&#8221; will be held on July 24-25.
 The festival usually attracts 1.3 million visitors every year, but due to the COVID-19 crisis, it will be the first time in four years that the festival will be held as a regular event. On the day of the festival, the spectacle of approximately 3,000 large fireworks lighting up the night sky is truly a summer tradition in Osaka.
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 On the other hand, however, an internal dispute broke out between the executive committee and the board members of the Taiko Naka, the governing body in charge of the event. The July 13 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; reported that the board of directors is in danger of disintegrating. This time, FRIDAY Digital obtained audio data of the board meeting mentioned in the article.
<figure id="attachment_322876" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-322876" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2220e0af"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/07/254614380b1c7626b2a6649055959292.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-322876" class="wp-caption-text"> The Tenjin Festival held in &#8217;19</figcaption></figure>
 In the first place, it was the appointment of a new general manager for the taiko chu that triggered the internal strife. One member of the taiko troupe said, &#8220;The taiko troupe has a staff of about 800 people.
 The Taiko Chū is an organization under the direct control of Tenmangu Shrine, with a staff of about 800, and is the top management of the festival. The general manager is at the top of the organization. The previous general manager of Taiko Naka passed away in 2008, and the following year we decided on a new general manager.
 Normally, the general manager is appointed by the board of directors. Mr. X, who once served as an executive of a prominent gangster organization in the Chugoku region,&#8221; said one of the Taiko Chūchū members.
 When Mr. X appeared in front of the board members, he suddenly proposed the appointment of Mr. A as the new general manager. As for the reason, he said, &#8220;It is the will of the former general manager. He also explained that he had been nominated by Tenmangu Shrine.
 Although Mr. A was the nephew of the previous general manager, he had never held an important post in taiko. In the first place, the position of general manager is not hereditary, and I have never heard of Tenmangu interfering in personnel matters here. The directors had no choice but to follow the wishes of Tenmangu Shrine, and Mr. A was appointed as the new general manager, as recommended by Mr. X. For the Taiko Chūgō, Tenmangu Shrine has such an absolute presence,&#8221; said an influential local resident.
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 The situation took a sudden turn when it was revealed that Mr. X&#8217;s statements about the &#8220;will of the previous general manager&#8221; and the &#8220;appointment by Tenmangu Shrine&#8221; were lies.
 Two Taiko executives who were suspicious of Mr. A&#8217;s appointment went directly to Tenmangu Shrine and asked if he had really been nominated,&#8221; said Mr. X. &#8220;Tenmangu Shrine told them that Mr. A had been nominated. Tenmangu then denied the fact of the nomination. Here, for the first time, Mr. X&#8217;s lie was discovered. However, when the executive board heard this, they were furious, saying, &#8216;It is against the law to go to Tenmangu Shrine without consulting the general representative.
 They shelved their own lies and sentenced the two to five years of house arrest. Again, some of the board members objected to this, and the board meeting became contentious. The executive board also fought against other board members who objected, forcing them to resign halfway through the meeting. They moved to eliminate the dissenters. It was later discovered that the will of the former general manager was also a lie.
 Last August, this magazine <a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/258623">reported on the management troubles at Taiko Naka, along with Mr. X&#8217;s alleged power harassment</a>. On June 4 of this year, Tenmangu Shrine, unable to see the situation for what it was, set up a meeting with Taiko Chū.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The meeting ended in chaos."></div>
So how did the meeting go?
 The recorded data shows that Taneji Terai, the chief priest himself, told Taichung
 I personally think that the five-year suspension is too harsh just for confirming with Tenmangu Shrine. It is my personal feeling that I would like to have the suspension of my house arrest to be reversed.
 The video shows him pleading with the Tenmangu shrine.
 The situation seemed to be resolved when Tenmangu Shrine made its move, but instead of calming down, it flared up further at a meeting of the Taiko Chūgō board that afternoon.
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 On the afternoon of June 4, the same day the June 4 board meeting began at a facility on the grounds of Tenmangu Shrine, the opposition Taiko Chū board members and the executive committee began trading barbs,&#8221; said another Taiko Chū executive.
 (Another Taiko Chūmei executive officer). The audio data provided by a source recorded a heated exchange of words between the board members and the executive committee in the middle of the meeting.
 The executive officer said, &#8220;If you go to Tenmangu Shrine to ask about it and find out that it is not true, are you just going to go ahead with it? That would be strange! (omitted) Even though it is clear that there was no will either. The story won&#8217;t settle down anytime soon!&#8221;
 Executive officer: &#8220;It &#8216;s settled, isn&#8217;t it?
 Executive officer : &#8220;It&#8217;s not settled!
 Executive &#8220;Why are you rehashing what was resolved at the TOYAGASHIRA, you are saying the same thing as FRIDAY.
 Executive officer : &#8220;That&#8217;s not true, Mr. X. The suspended members say they want to participate in the festival, so why don&#8217;t you let them come back?
 Executive &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand why you are saying the same thing as FRIDAY.
 Executive: &#8220;It &#8216;s not the same as FRIDAY. Let them come back!&#8221;
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 Toward the end of the meeting, the discussion about the return of the two members became more heated.
 The director said, &#8220;They want to participate in the festival. There was no will, there was no nomination from Tenmangu Shrine. That&#8217;s the way it is, so please listen to them. Please ask them. It would be strange if they didn&#8217;t ask!&#8221;
 Executive board member : &#8220;I heard from Tenmangu Shrine that they proposed not to get involved in what happens during ta iko drumming.
 Executive &#8220;If you don&#8217;t want to get involved, why don&#8217;t you just discuss it with everyone in Taiko Chuo?
 Executive board member : &#8220;This is the result of our discussions. I don&#8217;t understand what you are talking about.
 Executive officer &#8220;Mr. B (Temmangu Shrine staff member) also clearly stated that there was no will!
 Executive officer: &#8220;Who says there is a will?　He said there was a will, but he never said there was a will!&#8221;
 Executive officer : &#8220;I&#8217;ve been saying that all along! 　Mr. X, you can&#8217;t tell lies now!&#8221;
 Executive &#8220;It&#8217; s not a will. It&#8217;s a will!&#8221;
<figure id="attachment_322510" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-322510" style="width: 1510px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="fed85ef6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/07/8e53b2861ca5226be54365d8f887ad81-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-322510" class="wp-caption-text"> Priest Terai on a run.</figcaption></figure>
 Another Taiko Chu who attended the meeting recounted the situation at the time.
 In the end, the meeting got out of hand and ended halfway forcefully. Afterwards, the board members and others crowded around Mr. X, who was leaving, and there was a push-and-pull. It was so much stuff that the general public came to the meeting.
 But the problems caused by Taiko Zhong did not end there.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The scandals that even Tenmangu Shrine is appalled by are"></div>
In fact, it was discovered that an executive of Taiko Chūchū had sold the rights to an &#8220;offering boat&#8221; used in the boat procession for one million yen on an auction site. This angered Tenmangu Shrine. We demanded that the seller be punished immediately, and even Taiko Zhong was given a strict warning,&#8221; said a source close to Tenmangu Shrine.
 The &#8220;boat procession,&#8221; in which about 100 boats, led by the &#8220;imperial palanquin boat&#8221; carrying the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, pass along the Okawa River, is the largest ritual event of the Tenjin Festival.
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 The &#8220;Offering Boat&#8221; is a special boat that is only allowed to be boarded by those who are members of the Taiko Chūchū and other shrines that are considered to serve the gods. It is treated with the utmost respect as an indispensable vessel for welcoming the gods.
 However, the page for the exhibition that appeared in April of this year changed the name of the &#8220;Offering Boat&#8221; to &#8220;Offering Boat&#8221; and introduced it as a &#8220;commodity&#8221; offered by sponsors. The description was littered with advertising claims related to money.
<figure id="attachment_322509" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-322509" style="width: 1060px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="714540c6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/07/2e0b3c9a30e5373c337917f029fb5813.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-322509" class="wp-caption-text"> Auction page</figcaption></figure>
 ＜The boat is one of the largest boats in Reiwa and can hold approximately 280 to 300 seats. The fireworks and the boat in the photo are images of past Tenjin festivals and have nothing to do with this product.
Fortunately, the person concerned noticed it right after it was put on the market and did not bid on it. That was a relief at least. The people around us were appalled at the idea of using God as a means of making money.
 This magazine interviewed the Osaka Temmangu Shrine regarding Terai&#8217;s comments on June 4. The magazine interviewed Osaka Temmangu Shrine about Terai&#8217;s comments on June 4,
 &#8220;At the request of the head of taiko, I explained the necessity of reviewing the five-year suspension of the two officers,&#8221; he replied.
 He responded, &#8220;I explained the need to review the five-year suspensions of the two officers. Regarding the online auction sale of the &#8220;Offering Vessel,&#8221; he said, &#8220;The vessel in question is the &#8216;Offering Vessel.
 The ship in question is not a &#8220;bokuho-bune&#8221; but a &#8220;kobo-bune. If that is the case, the assumption that you have the &#8220;right&#8221; to sail the ship itself is a big misunderstanding. Nevertheless, to engage in such an unscrupulous act of auctioning the vessel on the Internet with an advertising message such as &#8220;We will lend you the right for 1,000,000 yen&#8221; is outrageous, and the Palace cannot condone such an act. We will immediately lodge a protest with the individual and have already banned him from participating in this year&#8217;s Tenjin Festival.
 I replied, &#8220;We have already taken action to ban the individual from participating in this year&#8217;s Tenjin Festival.
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 We also called Mr. A, a taiko drummer, to confirm the facts, but he replied, &#8220;I can&#8217;t talk about anything. I can&#8217;t talk about anything right now.
 Taiko Naka has been rocked by infighting, scandals, and trouble. We sincerely hope that the festival will be managed in a sound manner.

 Kyodo News (1st photo), Kei Kato (2nd and 3rd photos)

 Osaka's Tenjin Matsuri, one of Japan's three major festivals, is being rocked by internal strife within the "Taiko Chū," the festival's governing body. This is due to the ongoing infighting within the "Taiko Chū," the festival's governing body. This magazine has obtained the audio data of a board meeting of the Taiko Chū, which is in turmoil.

Osaka’s Tenjin Festival rocked by infighting trouble… “Board meeting with angry voices” audio data to be released

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