On May 1st, Takashima Shunsuke officially assumed office as the mayor of Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This ordinary inauguration ceremony drew strong attention from all walks of life in Japan.
This is because Shunsuke Takashima is only 26 years old this year, making him the youngest mayor in Japan since the implementation of the “mayoral election system” in 1948.
Ashiya City is situated by the mountains and the sea, and has abundant hot spring resources. It is designated by the government as an “international tourism and cultural city” (one of only nine in Japan). With a population of about 90,000, it is a truly wealthy area. There is a Japanese saying that goes “Tono no Denenchofu, Nishi no Ashiya”, referring to the fact that Ashiya City in the Kansai region represents the high-end residential area.
Why would such a wealthy and famous city choose such a young person as its mayor? It is because Shunsuke Takashima performed well in the election and won the trust and support of the citizens. In the April election, he received over 45% of the vote.
This is the first time that Takashima has participated in the election. At the same time, he was a veritable academic tycoon, having studied at Japan’s top university, the University of Tokyo, before dropping out to go to Harvard. During his time at Harvard, he dropped out of school three times to participate in social practice, and eventually clarified his life direction and received a degree certificate.
After serving as mayor, Takashima Junsuke’s family also received attention. It was only then that people discovered that he also had two younger brothers, both of whom were excellent students. In the end, what kind of family can raise such excellent and independent children?
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In February 1997, Takashima Shunsuke was born in Minoh City, Osaka, Japan. The specific occupations of his parents have not been disclosed, but they are not celebrities in the political or business world. His family lives in a wealthy neighborhood where company directors and bosses reside, so their economic situation should be average to well-off, and the media generally consider them to be ordinary middle-class.
Takashima attended a local public elementary school. His parents valued education, especially reading, and began reading picture books to him when he was very young, which also cultivated his interest in reading.
As a child, Takashima particularly enjoyed Lin Meiko’s picture books and sometimes improvised with his parents. Later, he had two younger brothers, one three years younger than him and the other nine years younger, and he would tell them stories. Sometimes he could read 50 picture books in a day on weekends, and he couldn’t sleep if he didn’t finish reading them all. Because of his strong reading ability, his academic performance has always been excellent.
Takashima Shunsuke was easily shy in elementary school. In order to overcome himself, he would go to the magic show people and ask: “Do you want to find someone to join?” After getting a positive answer, I followed everyone and gained experience that I had never had before.
In high school, Takashima Shunsuke went to private school Beach and Beach High School. Beach High School is Japan’s top boys school, entrance examination is very strict, the school is best at science teaching.
Takashima Shunnsuke is very good at school, his class notes are very clear, once viewed on social media exhibition, known as the “god of notes.”
When he was 16, Takashima attended the World Youth Model United Nations General Assembly, where he hosted an IOM meeting in fluent English and won an Excellence Award from 2,500 high school students from 23 countries. At that time, he read high school.
He is an outstanding student, but also love football player, once served as the school football team center. Takashima, who is well developed morally, intellectually and physically, is also keen to participate in social activities.
In addition, he was the student president of Hotan High School and organized and participated in many activities outside the school, such as holding sports events in the park and opening a store at the summer carnival. All this made him more aware of urban construction, and also interested in political activities, while exercising his ability to lead and organize activities.
After graduating from high school, Takashima was admitted to the University of Tokyo in Japan. It was 2015, and Takashima was 18. Surprisingly, he dropped out of school after only four months. He also applied to Harvard in high school and was accepted.
Due to the difference between the two universities’ announced grades and opening hours, Takashima chose to study at East University temporarily, and after receiving the admission notice from Harvard, he decided to study abroad.
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Initially majoring in public policy, Takshima later focused on environmental science and engineering, with a specific interest in renewable energy. Despite his time spent in the United States, Takashima remained active in Japan, participating in various social activities.
During his first year of college, he visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan with fellow students from the Harvard Kennedy School. In his second year, Koizumi became the chairman of a non-profit organization that supported Japanese high school students in studying abroad and developing their careers, collaborating with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Masaki Foundation. The organization helped over 300 Japanese students study abroad.
Despite his academic pursuits, Takashima never lost sight of his passion for serving his community. Upon graduating from Harvard, he returned to Japan and was elected as the youngest mayor in Japanese history.
At the end of his sophomore year, Takashima received a scholarship from the Sun Zhengyi Yuying Foundation. The scholarship is aimed at students under the age of 25, and focuses on providing an environment for young people with lofty aspirations and special abilities to use their talents, such as Hikaru Kajita, a serious math genius, and Toyo Kobayashi, a programmer with an IQ of 154.
After receiving the scholarship, Takashima applied for suspension and began to travel the world. He discussed with researchers around the world, learned about ideal urban construction, and published research using the city of Ashiya as an example.
After this, Takashima applied for two more suspensions. In 2017, he worked as an intern at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. In 2019, he returned to the Ashiya Municipal Government Office for an internship.
In these practical work, he deeply felt the impact of aging and low birth rate on society. During the epidemic, he served the public as a volunteer many times, which gave him a deep understanding of Japanese society.
These experiences helped him to define his ideal, and he hoped that in the future he would be involved in politics, directly involved in the construction of cities, and make people’s lives better and better. He returned to Harvard to complete his studies. He officially graduated in 2022. Seven years had passed since he entered school.
After receiving his diploma, Takashima returned to Ashiya City and began running for office. As a baseless independent, it is no doubt difficult to get ahead in politics. Takashima’s approach is to build on strengths and avoid weaknesses.
As a young Z generation, Takashima is proficient in internetworking marketing. Based on his own experience, he has published many practical posts on TikTok, such as which is more difficult to get into Dongda or Harvard, or what Harvard students want to know about the Google entrance exam. These short films quickly increased his popularity, and his high education and rich experience won the attention of young people.
At the same time, the election leaflets he printed were also very personal. It uses a combination of charts and illustrations, simple and clear, even the elderly can understand at a glance. He is no doubt aided by his affinity for bringing his dull political intentions to life.
At the end of April, Takashima won the election with 19,779 votes. He got 46.66% of the votes, about 18 percentage points higher than the second place.
On May 1, Takashima officially became mayor, becoming the youngest mayor in Japan’s history. Takashima expressed his intention to build Ashiya City into a city where people most want to live, and he hoped that people would value results rather than age.
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After Takashima served as mayor, his family information was also picked up by the media. People are surprised to find that not only Takashima is a highly educated elite, his two younger brothers are also very good.
Takashima, 23, is currently studying at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Takashima High School is also an elite boys’ school, is located in Hyogo Prefecture Jiayang College, after graduation successfully admitted to a prestigious school.
Recently, Takashima returned to Japan to assist his brother in developing various programs and marketing strategies.
His younger brother, Shengfu Takajima, is currently 17 years old and is currently the president of a student in the third grade of Tan High School. His growth track is very similar to that of his eldest brother, and he must also follow the route of studying abroad in famous schools in the future.
Takashima likes football and is the captain of the school football team. Before the school held a football match, the eldest brother Takashima also made a special trip to cheer on.
The relationship between the three brothers is very good. In the process of Takashima’s election for mayor, the two brothers did their best to help their eldest brother, and made many videos to help promote it. The “Three Brothers with High Education” has also attracted strong attention online.
These positive energy messages undoubtedly played a great role in promoting the success of Takashima’s election.
Good Family Education is the Key to Children's Success
After the success of Takashima’s election for mayor, the whole family was interviewed by the media, and it was obvious that they were a very harmonious and loving family.
Takashima’s father values the power of affection. Family meetings are held when the family has major decisions to make. At the beginning of each year, he asks the children to set a goal, talk about the specific plan, and review whether they achieved their goals last year. In this way, families are able to know each other’s thoughts and thus bond closely together.
Takajima decided to run, also said at the family meeting. When my father heard about it, he was surprised because none of his family had any experience in politics, and he was worried that he would fail or be criticized and didn’t know how to handle it. But the younger brothers were excited. They responded enthusiastically and immediately prepared to work out a detailed strategic plan.
All three brothers were excited. At three or four in the morning, they were still talking in a room, exchanging ideas. Even the youngest brother Takashima Shengsuke believes that since you want to do it, you must do your best and do things with a winning mentality.
Takashima’s mother is also very supportive of the children. When she was a child, she told the children to know how to seize the opportunity, the opportunity only once, must try their best to fight for, do not wait a long time to regret not doing the best.
Takashima is now the mayor of more than 90,000 people. Although he won the election, Takashima’s father believes that he can’t relax: “He won the support of about a quarter of the people in the city, and there should be many difficulties in the future, and it should be very hard.”
Indeed, the success of the election is only the beginning, the future also need to work hard to make achievements, in order to really get people’s hearts.
Whether Takashimacan make achievements depends on the development in the future. However, his parents’ family education is really good, pay attention to their children’s reading and education from an early age, teach their children to be polite and disciplined, but also have their own opinions. When children grow up, they can also respect their children, with the greatest tolerance to allow children to suspend school to find and realize their dreams, so as to achieve the best self.
Psychologist Seidez said: “People like ceramics, early childhood is like making pottery clay, what kind of education, will become what kind of embryonic form.” Parents are always the first teachers of their children, and good family traditions can make children more confident and courageous, so as to better climb the peak of life in the future.
