Photo/Illutration Members of the Hanshin Tigers parade along Osaka’s main Midosuji Street in 2003 when the team won the Central League championship. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OSAKA—Not everyone here feels like celebrating the success of Kansai region pro baseball teams this year.

Officials of the Osaka prefectural and city governments are being asked to work without pay at a parade marking the league championships of the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes.

They will not receive allowances or even transportation costs for their work.

“At the very least, we want it to be treated as a workday,” one official said.

Celebrations for the two teams will take place in Osaka, home of the Pacific League champion Buffaloes, and nearby Hyogo Prefecture, base of Central League pennant winner Hanshin, on Nov. 23, Labor Thanksgiving Day.

The Tigers, who defeated Orix on Nov. 5 for their first Japan Series title in 38 years, are also hugely popular in Osaka.

The Osaka prefectural government is calling for around 1,500 officials to volunteer for the event.

“In addition to security personnel, we would like to ask officials for their cooperation as volunteers,” the Osaka prefectural government office said to department chiefs in a notice dated Oct. 19.

The volunteers are expected to work for around seven hours, taking on such roles as guiding visitors.

Similarly, the Osaka city government is soliciting around 1,500 volunteers.

At the Osaka event, the Buffaloes will parade along the main Midosuji Street in the morning, followed by the Tigers in the afternoon.

The order will be reversed for the parade in Kobe’s Sannomiya district.

DIFFICULT TO DECLINE

The Osaka prefectural government has solicited volunteers from among the roughly 8,000 officials in departments under the direct supervision of the governor. This means about one in five officials is expected to help out at the parade.

The Osaka prefectural government workers’ union and the Osaka City Office Workers’ Union submitted letters to Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, respectively, demanding compensatory time off and transportation expenses for the volunteers.

“We are facing a chronic labor shortage at work,” Yasunori Komatsu, chief of the executive committee in the prefectural workers’ union, said. “It’s unacceptable to ask for volunteers on the national holiday in this situation.”

Yoshimura has repeatedly told reporters that “it is not mandatory for officials to participate in the event.”

20231108-parade2-L
Hanshin Tigers fans celebrate in the Dotonbori district of Osaka after the team clinched its first Japan Series title in 38 years on Nov. 5. (Mari Endo)

More than 2,300 officials from the Osaka prefectural and city governments had reportedly applied to volunteer for the parade by Nov. 6.

Some local officials said it is difficult to decline a call for volunteers from the boss.

The Hyogo prefectural and Kobe city governments will assign a total of around 1,500 officials to the Sannomiya venue.

The day will be considered a workday, and the officials will be encouraged to take compensatory time off.

“Given the nature of ensuring safety like security assistance and crowd guidance, we are treating it as an official duty,” Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito said.

PLEA FOR DONATIONS

A crowdfunding campaign to cover the parades’ expenses totaling around 500 million yen ($3.3 million) has been sluggish.

Yoshimura, who also serves as a vice chairman of the executive committee formed by economic organizations and local governments, requested the crowdfunding drive last month, saying, “I want to celebrate with the fans.”

However, as of 7 p.m. on Nov. 7, only about 57 million yen was collected, or 11 percent of the target.

Given the situation, Yoshimura hastily arranged a Nov. 6 news conference, where he said: “I want to hold wonderful parades with everyone. Please cooperate with the crowdfunding.”

(This article was written by Juntaro Oka, Haruka Suzuki and Tatsuya Harada.)

Related News