Yesterday, 11/14 (Thu), at Nishinomiyahama. Unless there’s an event, Nishinomiyahama is usually a place with very few people walking around.
At Nishi2, we value sharing topics that people in Nishinomiya care about, from small everyday happenings to major events in the city. This article was created with the intention of archiving, from Nishi2’s perspective, a historically unusual turnout in Nishinomiya and events that major media outlets may not cover much. It is not intended to promote the claims of any particular candidate. We’ll keep valuing the perspective of showing what Nishinomiya is like at this moment, while continuing to keep things relaxed and fun. (If you want to know each candidate’s policies or campaign messages, we recommend watching livestreams of their speeches rather than relying on Nishi2〜)
It was a little before 3 p.m. The Co-op parking lot was full! The store manager seemed pretty flustered, saying, “It usually only fills up during fireworks festivals〜”
In front of Co-op. Personally, I think of this road as the main street. The people lined up so neatly were waiting for Motohiko Saito.
Mr. Saito hadn’t arrived yet, so the people supporting him were taking turns giving greetings.
There were about five of them in total, I think? All of them were classmates of Mr. Saito from junior high or high school.
There was such a strong atmosphere of support. It felt kind of fresh, and the last person was really fun〜
Nishinomiya city council member Yoshito Kawamura was about to start something like an opening act because Mr. Saito hadn’t arrived yet, but almost like perfect comedic timing, the campaign car came right away〜
Some people were also watching from the stairs beside Co-op.
During his speech, Mr. Saito said something like, “(My) eyes have started getting bloodshot, and people keep asking me, ‘Are you okay?’ but… I’m okay,” which was kind of funny. They might actually be a bit bloodshot
Oh! The campaign announcer actually comes out this far, huh〜
The person in the foreground is Fukumaro, who’s well known for livestreaming〜
And look at that posture!! That must take incredible stamina〜 Looks really tiring
A few people were watching from the balconies of the apartment buildings too, and he greeted them.
As you can see, a lot of people had gathered, and according to someone who lives in Nishinomiyahama, this may have been the first time in history that so many people gathered in this spot.
Oh, it’s the usual opposition group. There were also people covering them〜
There were several people livestreaming like this.
The flyers to hand out were piled up in clear storage boxes. I wonder how many they hand out in a day.
The usual handshake time. Today again, Nishinomiya city council members Kento Mori and Yoshito Kawamura were sticking close to both sides of Mr. Saito like security guards〜
Some people were so moved they started crying〜 If you look closely, someone is getting a mask signed〜
The usual huge crowd when he leaves.
There was someone who wanted to hand Mr. Saito a letter, but he had already left, so they entrusted it to Mr. Kawamura〜
A little while later.
This extremely eye-catching yellow car is the campaign car of the NHK Party.
I can’t believe they even did the “bukowaaasu” chant in Nishinomiyahama〜
Look closely. “Party leader” is handwritten really tiny. Why write it at that size?? So mysterious!
Mr. Tachibana’s speech style, where he’s surrounded like this, is pretty distinctive too〜 You can get really close〜
This close! Co-op, Mr. Tachibana, autumn leaves, NHK Party. Kind of chaotic
Maybe he likes Sapporo Beer〜
There were occasional questions and such, and because it was such an unusual style, everyone was listening seriously〜
LaLaport Koshien, the 14th
Mr. Saito was scheduled to come to LaLaport at 5:30 p.m.
The sidewalk on the LaLaport side of Koshien-suji was packed.
It was the MBS camera that was also there when he came to JR Nishinomiya〜
People were also waiting for Mr. Saito from around the Koshien Plus building and the Koshien History Museum.
The view from there, with the moon out, was really something. The kind of thing Americans might call “cool!”
This rope was really long. So there were lots of volunteers holding it.
And then he arrived〜〜
