Today, 11/16 (Sat), an unprecedented number of people gathered around Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens.
At Nishitsuu, we value sharing topics that interest Nishinomiya residents — from small happenings to big events in the city. This article was created with the intention of archiving, from a Nishitsuu perspective, the historic turnout unique to Nishinomiya and events that major media outlets don’t often cover. It contains no content advocating for any particular candidate’s positions. We’ll continue to share the story behind what’s happening in Nishinomiya right now, keeping things laid-back and fun.(If you want to learn about each candidate’s policies and platform, we recommend watching livestreams of their speeches rather than reading Nishitsuu~)
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi around 1:55 PM
Right after passing through the moving walkway heading to Nishinomiya Gardens. The line on the left is people waiting to hear Motohiko Saito’s speech~
People peeking outside. Is he already here~?
So many umbrellas. Not sure if Saito-san is here yet, but we can’t hear his voice
Still, the number of people in this spot is seriously impressive.
By the stairway going down. People are even watching from the less-traveled paths around Gardens~
This stairway is on the opposite side from the speech venue, but there are people watching from here too
The entrance area of Gardens on the first floor is also packed with people.
Even the Gardens annex parking lot is full~ Maybe it’s because of all the people who came for this~
Police officers were keeping watch to ensure safety.
Huge crowds at the crosswalk on the Purela Hall side too.
Massive crowds at the north side crosswalk as well.
The deck area is lined with people stretching all the way back. Packed solid.
It’s not just the front rows — the depth of the crowd is incredible.
Believe it or not, there are even people watching from inside Gardens. By the way, you couldn’t hear the speech at all from inside Gardens
Nishinomiya city council member Kento Mori was carefully watching over the area to make sure there were no safety concerns.
Caught in traffic, Motohiko Saito’s campaign vehicle finally arrived.
People by the McDonald’s at the Plus building were waving too
He arrived, waving as he came~
The vehicle backed in next to the police box.
After arriving, just as he was about to head over to the gathered crowd —
He had a moment like “Oh wait, my appearance!” and turned back around
Maybe he forgot to fix his pants. Kind of endearing, actually
He used the window as a mirror to straighten himself up, and then~
Put on a sharp look and restarted! That whole scene was pretty hilarious.
He started by shaking hands with everyone near the police box, and people were absolutely thrilled.
Then over to the people on the other side too~
And with that, the speech began.
Maybe because this was the last day of campaign speeches, there were a lot of media people. Kobe Shimbun, FRIDAY magazine, and even a kid from the Japan Junior High School Newspaper.
TV Asahi’s news crew was filming with a video camera
Looks like it might be Sankei Shimbun~
A camera crew from TBS’s show “THE TIME.”
Fukumaro-san was there too. Livestreaming in his usual position~
Oh! Freelance journalist Suda-san is here!!!
(Photo: Hourenso-san)
He just suddenly appeared next to us and we were like “Suda-san!!!” Looks like he was on camera for the Toranomon News livestream. The speech had just started so we barely got to talk~ We’ve been a huge fan ever since his Soko Made Itte Iinkai days~
True to form as a journalist, he’s taking notes on what Saito-san is saying.
Ashiya city council member Ryosuke Iwaoka was also there
