Ryosuke Takashima

Ashiya Puts Residents at the Center of Municipal Tradeoffs

Ashiya mayor Ryosuke Takashima, Japan’s youngest-ever mayor, argues that local government should not merely consult residents but involve them in defining problems and making contested choices. Through informal conversations with students, dialogue sessions with older residents and citizen-led workshops, he says, the city has turned local concerns into decisions ranging from school air conditioning to elder-care services and street closures. For Takashima, government’s role is to support a vision created by citizens rather than impose one of its own.