The atmosphere of the Hanshin & Orix victory parade was totally different from that of the Orii.

On November 23, the city of Kansai was intoxicated by the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes. The Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes victory commemorative parades were held on Midosuji Street in Osaka City and Sannomiya Street in Kobe City.

The Hanshin Tigers parade started at 11:00 a.m. at the Kobe site and the Orix Buffaloes parade started at the Osaka site, and from 2:00 p.m. the parade was held at each site, switching the teams. A total of 1 million people (according to organizers) gathered for the four parades at both the Osaka and Kobe venues. The Hanshin Tigers drew an astonishing 300,000 visitors in Kobe and 350,000 in Osaka. Many fans moved to Osaka after watching the games in Kobe. On the other hand, the Orix had 200,000 visitors in Osaka City and 150,000 in Kobe City in the afternoon.

The author visited the Osaka site and found that many of the people watching the Orix parade along the street were looking at the athletes in a relaxed manner. However, when the time for the Hanshin parade approached, the crowds suddenly increased, and the atmosphere changed as people sang Rokko Oroshi here and there, or got excited in groups. In fact, there were many people watching the parade from office buildings along the route, their rooftops, and even from the upper floors of building construction sites, surprising the athletes. Some of the buildings even had glass signs in support of the Hanshin team, attracting the attention of the fans.

Director Akifumi Okada said in his speech at the beginning of the parade, “I wondered why the parade started here, but this building is the former site of my alma mater’s elementary school, which I attended for six years and which holds fond memories for me. I am filled with emotion. I don’t know who said that we would achieve the thing and the thing of the thing, but I want to parade with a feeling of gratitude to the elementary school in the best possible way,” he said, and the starting point was filled with loud cheers. A banner made by alumni and other volunteers was displayed on the building, and when Okada found it before his greeting, he made a gesture as if he were wiping away tears.

The number of people deployed for the parade was approximately 2,000 private security guards, 800 police officers, and 2,500 volunteers, mostly composed of employees of the much-discussed Osaka Prefectural Government and the city of Osaka. This question was raised by the Osaka media at a press conference held by Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama after the parade. Governor Yoshimura replied, “Not participating in the volunteer activities will not affect my personnel or performance. There were many employees who participated with the desire to make the parade more exciting. The media may be reporting too much about that,” he countered. Regarding the fact that the Expo was not mentioned at all this time, he said, “There were opinions that the Expo should be separated from the Expo. This year’s event was purely a celebration of the two teams. I hope the excitement of this parade will lead to the World Expo a year and a half from now.