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Dialogue "Tarzan Yamamoto ×Toudoukan Director" 19.
19. With the Staff
Director: The staff started by having juniors from the university come in from time to time on a temporary basis when we had to vacate the store.
After that, Mr. S, who was a student at a nearby university of Japan, began to come in regularly several times a week.
Then, as the store grew, the number of staff also increased.
All the staff members like Pro Wrestling, and each of them works with more enthusiasm than a normal part-time job.
Sometimes, there were staff members who liked it so much that they caused a ridiculous problem and asked me to quit (wry smile).
However, there are dozens of staff members who have worked for us so far, including those who have quit here. We all have our own internal feelings.
I'm still wondering what they're doing.
Tarzan Yamamoto: It's a special relationship where we spent the same amount of time together.
Director: I didn't want to go out drinking with the staff or detain them until the day I was off, so I didn't have much interaction with the staff outside the restaurant.
Only once, when we first moved, we were able to take a vacation, so we all went on a company trip to Phuket, Thailand, thinking that this was the place, which was a good memory.
When I was a student, I took everyone to a Muay Thai gym and forced them to participate in training at a Thai training camp, which may have been power harassment (laughs).
So, when I came back and was preparing to move to the front of the station, in the sense of a rally,
The teacher also gave a special lecture only to the staff.
Tarzan Yamamoto: yes. Hooray!
▲ Tarzan Yamamoto special lecture for staff
Director: But about a year after that, things started to get strained between the staff and me.
For example, Inoki was coup d'état at New Japan Pro Wrestling, Maeda was left alone at UWF, I guess it's a common story that people at the top and bottom don't get along and get jittery.
Tarzan Yamamoto: yes. It's common.
Director: The staff would get together and talk to each other about whether they didn't like the director's way of doing things or that they couldn't do that, and they would come up with it as a consensus of the staff and confront me.
The one I remember the most was
At the event, there was a person called TAKUYA NAGABUCHI, who is said to be a possession artist because he is so good at imitating Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi that he has a soul, and we did his LIVE in the 6th floor conference room of the same building.
I had a really good LIVE, and when I came back to the store after the launch was over, the staff was all waiting for me.
"I have a story."
I said, "Isn't there anything that the director has to report to everyone first?"
Did something happen? If you think.
What does Nagabuchi have to do with Pro Wrestling ?" (wry smile)
Tarzan Yamamoto: Wow
Director: "We work at Toudoukan because we like Pro Wrestling. What.
As for this one, it was right after the event that I was desperate, so I was surprised, angry, and even laughed at the same time (laughs).
The ring, the stage, and life are all the same "battles." I ask Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi to express this in his songs. By doing that at Toudoukan , it will be an opportunity for Nagabuchi fans and Pro Wrestling fans to get to know the store.
Doing that LIVE was very important to me, and I felt that there was no contradiction in doing it hosted by Toudoukan , so after explaining my own reasoning, I also emotionally said,
I think I said, "This may be selfish on my part, but this is my way, so if you don't like it, please stop."
This kind of misalignment often happens, so I thought this was a bad idea, so I re-studied what "organization" is.
I didn't like the organization and chose to live as an individual, but as the number of staff increased, I had no choice but to become an organization. I thought it was causal.
At that time, I was in the middle of an eviction trial, and I was attacked from the outside and the inside.
Looking back on it now, it was a tough time.
Thanks to that, I feel like my gray hair increased all at once during that period (wry smile).
After all, you have to build a top-down relationship based on a triangular relationship with the staff.
Until then, please let the staff do whatever they want.
I was told to do what I wanted to do before the hierarchical relationship. That leads to more and more misunderstandings.
If the top management has to steer the big policy of the store, but the staff tries to go in a different direction on their own, it will be jerky. Freedom within an organization can only work if it is within the range indicated by the top.
Tarzan Yamamoto: That's right. It doesn't turn. That's why in my case, I told my subordinates that they were free to do whatever they wanted in Weekly Pro Wrestling , but they were completely glaring at me.
Don't do anything that goes against my way of thinking, my sense of beauty, or my philosophy.
If it's anything else, I can do it.
That's the prerequisite, isn't it?
Don't stray from Tarzan Yamamoto's way of thinking. If it doesn't come off, you can do whatever you want.
When it was a week pro, it was a big deal.
Director: Yes. It wasn't like that, but the staff had fallen out of the pyramid, so I had to rearrange it.
So you had to rework with each of the staff members one by one.
Then some of them quit.
With the remaining staff and the new staff, we started over.
I had a new start in Sugamo.
Tarzan Yamamoto: Crackling
Director: Now, I think that we have been able to work as a team with the staff in a good way, based on the relationship between superiors and subordinates.
For the main ring, I want the staff to think carefully about it and make it exciting. Just like all the days of the Four Heavenly Kings. However, it is in line with the values I aim for (laughs).
Now, if the staff can reach their full potential, Toudoukan will still be able to move forward.
I want to go a little further.
That's the progress we're making at this point in our 20th year.
Tarzan Yamamoto: yes. Relationships are the hardest part.
Because it's the biggest theme. Relationships are always.
How do we control it? That's where you show off your skills.
To tell you the truth. That's because that's what human power is all about.
Director: That's right. Yes.
I wonder what will happen in another 10 years.
▲ On the day of the 20th anniversary with Osprey fighters (current IWGP champion)