Ryosuke Takashima, who won the Ashiya mayoral election held yesterday, April 23, has been making headlines and trending on social media as the youngest mayor in history〜
Screenshot from Kobe Shimbun NEXT
Click here for the mayoral election vote count results (Ashiya City official website)
Youngest mayor in history draws attention for Nada High → University of Tokyo → Harvard, use of TikTok, and more
In the news and on social media, people have been talking not only about him becoming the “youngest mayor in history,” but also about his educational background: going from Nada Junior and Senior High School to the University of Tokyo, then graduating from Harvard University in the U.S. His campaign’s use of social media such as TikTok has also been drawing attention〜
【#AshiyaMayoralElection】A 26-year-old mayoral candidate, #RyosukeTakashima.
— Hirotada Ototake (@h_ototake) April 20, 2023
With the message “Making Ashiya the city where people most want to keep living, anywhere in the world,” he is working hard to become the youngest mayor in history.
Today I’m in Ashiya City giving my full support to a friend I’ve known since he was a student at Harvard University!!@TakashimaR_2023 https://t.co/9XSig1z9fJ pic.twitter.com/eO50sgbY6i
↑ Ototake, known for “No One’s Perfect,” apparently came all the way to Ashiya to support him〜
Takashima, who became Ashiya City’s youngest mayor at 26, is from Minoh in Osaka! Or so I thought, and then I found out that as a first-year high school student, he represented Nada High School at a Model United Nations conference and won the top prize. As a result, he was commended by the mayor of Minoh, and because he was interested in politics, he ended up interviewing the mayor intensively… at age 15…https://t.co/gVWtC4CQW3 pic.twitter.com/cctqSVcES8
— Mai Shiotani 💭 (@ciotan) April 24, 2023
↑ Other past activities were also getting attention, such as serving as student council president during his time at Nada High School and doing an internship at city hall. He currently runs an NPO that supports Japanese students studying abroad〜
Finally
The morning after the election, I stood outside JR Ashiya Station this morning to express my thanks.
— Ryosuke Takashima, Ashiya mayoral candidate (@TakashimaR_2023) April 24, 2023
So many people offered their congratulations and words of encouragement, and I feel both a renewed sense of responsibility and an excited “Let’s get to work!” feeling.
Once again, I am truly grateful to have received 19,779 votes and to have been elected. Thank you very much. pic.twitter.com/ySyDu2iMNZ
↑ A post from Ryosuke Takashima’s official Twitter account
How will Ashiya City change under its much-talked-about new mayor? We’re looking forward to seeing what happens.
