Ashiya elects 26-year-old mayor, youngest ever in Japan | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis (original) (raw)

ASHIYA, Hyogo Prefecture--Local voters made national history by electing a 26-year-old to lead the city, making him the youngest mayor ever in Japan.

Winning more than 46 percent of the vote, Ryosuke Takashima defeated the incumbent and two other rivals in the Ashiya mayoral election on April 23.

“What matters is what I’ll achieve, not my age,” said Takashima. “But my youth means I have more energy to be more active than anyone else.”

Takashima broke the previous record for youngest mayor set in 1994, when Kotaro Shishida was elected at 27 to lead Musashimurayama in western Tokyo, according to the Japan Association of City Mayors.

Takashima campaigned on providing more support for young families, free medical care for people 18 and younger and improved English education programs.

Originally from Minoh, Osaka Prefecture, Takashima studied environmental engineering at Harvard University.

Since 2016, he has headed a nonprofit organization that offers support to students who plan to study abroad.

Takashima became interested in municipal administration when he interned at the Ashiya municipal government office in 2019.

After graduating from the university in 2022, he moved to Ashiya to run for public office.