Born in 1997, TAKASHIMA Ryosuke is the youngest mayor in Japanese history, having been elected to lead Ashiya in April 2023 at the age of 26.
His policy priority is elevating the quality of public school education through "Just-Right Learning" (a student-driven, tailored approach) and promoting citizen-led community development through extensive dialogue across all ages. Hosting over 16 dialogue sessions annually, he has developed a model where citizens progressively take ownership of city planning, moving from Q&A with the mayor to citizen-led discussions where the mayor simply listens. He visits all public schools regularly and actively supports student-led initiatives, including junior high students rewriting their own school rules, believing that democracy must be learned early to be practiced for life.
His influence extends nationally: since 2025, he has served as a specialist member of the Central Council for Education (MEXT), contributing to the revision of national curriculum guidelines.
Ryosuke earned an A.B. in Environmental Science and Engineering from Harvard College in 2022. While at Harvard, he led Ryu-fellow, an educational non-profit nurturing future global leaders for seven years, focusing on supporting students studying abroad and facilitating youth involvement in local community building.
He has been named a TIME100 Next honoree (2025) and selected as a TED Fellow (2026), recognized internationally as "Japan's youngest-ever mayor reshaping democracy."