Saki Akiyama
SAKI AKIYAMA
Manager, Civic Education Division | Third cohort, joined 2025 | Faculty of Law, Keio University
She applied to Mock Ward Mayoral Election 2025 as an ordinary participant. The following year she was planning and running it from the operations section, and by that June she was managing the whole program. We asked the person who has actually lived out the phrase this organization keeps using: leaving the audience.
You came to TEIGEN JP as a participant in the Mock Ward Mayoral Election.
Yes, I applied to the 2025 one on my own. Honestly, what I mostly felt beforehand was: can I really think out a policy? But on the day I researched a local problem, built a policy, made a speech in front of people, took questions from a serving assembly member — and politics suddenly became something I had words for.
What made you move to running it?
After it ended I thought: I don't want to be only on the receiving end of this. I wanted to be the one producing that change in someone else. TEIGEN JP genuinely has that loop — participants going on to run it — and I joined it.
Manager within a year. Was that not a lot of pressure?
It was, yes. Dealing with officials, asking assembly members for help, designing the running order — none of it accepts "we're students" as an excuse. But the TEIGEN Dojo training and the board and monthly reporting mean quality is guaranteed by the organization rather than by anyone's nerve. That saved me repeatedly.
Politics suddenly became something I had words for. Now I want to be the one producing that.
What is the question you are chasing?
What does it take for a young person to leave the audience and speak as someone with a stake in it? Because I left the audience myself, I want to keep designing for people hesitating over the first step — the way I was — and not only for those who are already engaged.
How was it alongside entrance exams?
Honestly, I ran the whole way. Those days of going at both flat out, with the others pushing me on, are what made me who I am. There is a rule letting you step back before exams, so it isn't impossible — it's just serious.
Anything for someone thinking about joining?
"I don't know enough" is not a reason. I didn't either. If you have a question, the machinery here will change you.
Saki Akiyama. Third cohort, joined 2025. Took part in Mock Ward Mayoral Election 2025 as a participant, then planned and ran the 2026 edition from the operations section. Manager of the Civic Education Division since June 2026, overseeing the whole program. Faculty of Law, Keio University.
This is a draft awaiting publication. It will be published properly once the interviewee has checked it.