The contractor for the Hanshin-Orix victory parade was a subsidiary of Dentsu, which has been suspended from bidding!
Don’t use the victory parade as a PR stunt for Expo ’70! …Hanshin-ORIX victory parade drew a flood of criticism
The Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes victory parade was held on November 23 last year to celebrate the Hanshin Tigers’ first league championship in 18 years and the Orix Buffaloes’ third consecutive league championship.
Despite the originally positive news, the parade was not organized by the “Hyogo/Osaka Cooperation ‘Hanshin Tigers, Orix Buffaloes Winning Memorial Parade’ – 500 days before Expo ’70 Osaka/Kansai 2025! ~ The name of the event was “Hyogo-Osaka Cooperative ‘Hanshin Tigers, Orix Buffaloes Victory Memorial Parade’ – 500 days before Expo ‘2025 Osaka-Kansai'”. The name of the parade was “The Hyogo Prefectural Government and Kobe City Officials.
Furthermore, while Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City mobilized 1,500 employees as part of their official duties, the approximately 2,500 employees of Osaka Prefecture and City were unpaid volunteers, and they had to pay for their own meals and transportation.
In addition, although 500 million yen was raised for the parade through crowdfunding, only about 97 million yen had been raised as of the day of the parade. The remaining 400 million yen was raised by the executive committee through corporate sponsorships.
A “disclosure request” by Hanshin fans revealed that the parade contractor was Dentsu Live, a subsidiary of the Dentsu Group!
The parade was marred by many problems, but the problems did not end there.
The contractor for the Hanshin-Orix victory parade was a Dentsu subsidiary, Dentsu Live. Contract amount 189 million yen
Some information regarding the Hanshin-Orix victory parade has been disclosed. Dentsu’s head office has been suspended from bidding in Osaka Prefecture, but OK if it is a subsidiary? Doesn’t that make sense?
This is a tweet by Mr. Postman, whose account name is “Postman” on X (formerly Twitter).
Mr. Postman is a person who has requested monthly disclosure of former Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui’s trips to spas in his official car, has disclosed the information on X, and has provided various media with scoops centering on the Osaka Restoration Association.
He is literally a “postman” in his day job, but while he was distrustful of the political stance of the Osaka Restoration Party and campaigning against the Osaka Metropolis concept, he came to know about Mr. WADA, the “demon of disclosure requests” who appeared in FRIDAY Digital and began to counter the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments with disclosure requests, wondering “Was there such a way? He said, “I didn’t know there was such a way.
After Osaka Governor Yoshimura (Hirofumi) interfered in the Hanshin and Orix victory parade and was criticized for trying to use the event to promote the Kansai Expo, the Kansai Economic Federation, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe City, and others said they would hold the event as an executive committee.
However, no one from the baseball team was present at the press conference, and only three people appeared: Governor Yoshimura, Mayor Yokoyama, and Masayoshi Matsumoto, chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation. I thought this was odd, given the criticism that even the press conference was being used as a publicity stunt for the Expo. So, to sum up, including the crowdfunding and volunteer issues, etc. 5 In addition to the I requested disclosure in five or six places, including the crowdfunding and volunteer issues. I made five or six separate requests for disclosure, including the issues of crowdfunding and volunteers.
In fact, at that time, Dentsu PR Consulting was listed as the contact person for the parade’s executive committee public relations.
I wondered if Dentsu was involved. Then, in a disclosure request to the Osaka Prefectural Government, a contract document was found that reads, “Dentsu Live contract amount: 1,000,000 yen. 189 million yen. The contract was disclosed in a disclosure request to the Osaka Prefectural Government, and the information was that the contract amount was 189 million yen.
Following the bid rigging scandal involving the Tokyo Olympics, in February and March 2011, the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments and the Japan Association for the International Expositions, the main operator of the Kansai Expo, suspended the bidding qualifications of Dentsu, Hakuhodo, and Tokyu Agency for one year. However, Dentsu Live is a company wholly owned by the Dentsu Group.
As a subsidiary of the Dentsu Group, technically speaking, it may be OK. But with Dentsu suspended from bidding qualifications, one wonders what a subsidiary of the Dentsu Group would do.”
Dentsu has had its bidding suspended…but is it OK if it is a subsidiary of the Dentsu Group? How did that happen? Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City responded…
On January 30, when Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura was asked about this matter by a reporter from “The People’s Daily” during a press conference, he acknowledged the fact but simply repeated, “We will discuss it at the executive committee.
How was the executive committee formed in the first place? And why was the decision made that Dentsu was not allowed to participate, but a subsidiary of the Dentsu Group was?
When we requested an interview, the Hanshin Tigers only informed us of the organizing office , saying, “The parade is not sponsored by our team,” and we did not receive a response from the Orix Buffaloes within the deadline.
The City of Osaka also only repeated, “Please contact the Osaka Prefectural Government, which is the secretariat of the Executive Committee.
The Osaka Prefectural Government’s Policy Planning and General Affairs Division, Policy Planning Department, responded in writing as follows regarding the background of the establishment of the executive committee.
The Osaka Prefectural Government’s Policy Planning and General Affairs Division of the Policy Planning Department responded in writing as follows: “The committee was established in the form of an executive committee, following the structure of past Hanshin Tigers victory parades in 2003 and 2005 (the team was not a member of the executive committee in past parades).
What about the issue of the contract with a subsidiary of the Dentsu Group?
Dentsu Live Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Dentsu Live”) has been suspended from participating in bidding by the Osaka Prefectural Government under Article 3 The company is not subject to the suspension of bidding participation under Article 3 of the Osaka Prefectural Government’s Guidelines for Suspension of Bidding Participation, and is not subject to the suspension under Article Article 5 The company does not fall under Article 5 of the same guidelines.
In addition, the company was selected as a company that can safely and reliably implement the event, because it has a track record of operating events on Midosuji Boulevard in the past, and is familiar with the issues involved in public roadway events and has the know-how,” the company responded.
He added, “We plan to announce the use of the 400 million yen in corporate sponsorship and the 100 million yen in crowdfunding once the overall revenue and expenditures have been finalized.
Incidentally, it has often been pointed out in the Tokyo Olympics corruption scandal that when an external body called the “Executive Committee” is formed, it is impossible to request disclosure and the contents of the organization remain invisible.
Mr. Postman said he was not surprised by the results. I’m not surprised at the results,” he said, but he did raise the following issue.
I think they signed the contract because the Osaka Prefectural Government’s rules say it is OK. But even if it is OK as a rule, what does it mean from a moral standpoint?
If it is a large company, there are many group companies and subsidiaries, so there are many loopholes.
Even if Dentsu itself had signed the contract, in many cases, it would be the subsidiary companies, such as production companies, that would work onsite. The only difference is the entrance point.
Reporting and writing: Wakako Tago PHOTO: Kyodo News