Yosuke Suzuki, Mayor of Yotsukaido City

Our goal is to create a "kind town" that can lend a helping hand to those who truly need it.

Mayor of Yotsukaido City, Suzuki Yosuke

■ Profile
Born in 1983, he is 42 years old. He graduated from Keio University. He worked as a banker, secretary to a member of the House of Representatives, a member of the Yotsukaido City Council (one term), and a member of the Chiba Prefectural Assembly (two terms) before being elected mayor in 2022 and serving his first term. He has a large family with his wife, who is an office worker, and four children (ages 7, 5, 3, and 1). His hobbies are watching sports and playing shogi (Japanese chess). He is a fan of local teams such as the Chiba Lotte Marines (professional baseball) and the Chiba Jets (professional basketball). Playing Sentai and card games with his children is a daily routine.

Mayor Suzuki of Yotsukaido City has said that "young people are the hope of the future," and continues to be loved by the citizens while valuing "closeness to the citizens." We spoke to Mayor Suzuki, who truly loves Yotsukaido, about its attractions and initiatives.

■About my student days

During high school and university, I attended school on scholarships, so I balanced my student life with various part-time jobs. I had a wide range of part-time jobs, including working in a restaurant and counseling at a prep school, and gained a wide range of experience. However, I supported myself by switching between these jobs, so I was the type of student who worked part-time jobs eight times a week. I think that during this time, I learned about the workings of society and acquired many things, such as how to earn money and communication skills. In my second year of university, I also participated in a parliamentary internship, where I learned a variety of things under the tutelage of a Diet member's secretary. As a student, I was particularly interested in education policy, so I accompanied Diet members to visit various ministries and local governments and listened to the various people I met.
My reason for choosing to become a council member intern stems from my admiration and gratitude since elementary school. Many people in Yotsukaido have a strong sense of local pride, and festivals are thriving, with many people warmly greeting me just by passing by. In this environment, I began to dream of giving back to the people of Yotsukaido and becoming mayor, even as an elementary school student. I kept asking myself, "What kind of career path would allow me to achieve this?" When I talked to my homeroom teacher about this dream, he encouraged me, saying, "You can definitely do it!" Of course, his encouragement was a big factor, but I also had a lot of respect for him at the time, and his words were a great source of support for me. After that, driven by my desire to help people in need, I re-examined my knowledge of national and local politics and decided to run for office.
However, I lost the first election. But this "loss" was like a good medicine for me. While some people left after I lost, I still had my family and friends who supported me and cheered me on. Thanks to them, I was able to get back on my feet and use my loss as a springboard to bounce back. After that, I tried again and was elected. During the election period, I decided to "act before thinking," and I ran as hard as I could, standing at stations from the first train in the morning to the last train at night, even on weekends, to greet people, and I just ran as hard as I could to "get noticed."

■ Yotsukaido City: A town where people call out "Suzuki!" as you walk down the street

The appeal of Yotsukaido City, where I serve as mayor, is that it is both urban and rural. With good access to Tokyo and Narita Airport and well-developed transportation, it has the appeal of being a "working-friendly city." Furthermore, the city has excellent public safety and is characterized by a growing child-rearing population. In terms of public safety, Yotsukaido has a prefectural police station directly under its jurisdiction, which is responsible only for Yotsukaido City, and does not share responsibility with other areas. As a result, we have a community-based security system in place, and we work closely with the police.
Another attraction is the abundance of greenery in the city, and the calm and gentle atmosphere throughout the town. In the future, I would be happy if the appeal of Yotsukaido spreads not only through referrals from real estate companies, but also through word of mouth, such as "I was recommended by a friend" or "I visited with an acquaintance and found it to be a nice place to live." Another characteristic of Yotsukaido is the close relationship between the citizens and the mayor. When I'm walking around town, elementary school children sometimes call out to me, "Suzuki!" and I feel the warmth of these everyday interactions.

■What are the three policies that Yotsukaido City is focusing on?

We are focusing on public-private partnerships. We have three main policies. The first is a partnership between Chiba University, companies, and Yotsukaido City, and we are trying to implement the "Four Leaf Project," a healthy town development initiative carried out with local residents. This project is based on the motto "health in all policies," and we are working to involve private individuals and others.
The second reason is that we want to create a place for children. Children today have a wide variety of worries. For example, there are many different types of school refusal. I believe that children are the future, the very hope of the future. Therefore, even if we cannot save all children, we are trying to reach as many children as possible. One of the initiatives we are trying to do is "provide work experience in the town of Yotsukaido." It was held for one month during the summer vacation of 2025, and we received a huge number of applications, so we are thinking of increasing the number of jobs that people can experience next year.
The third is the library. The director of Yotsukaido City is a very interesting employee, but at the same time, when we asked him to "create a city of books," he was so talented that he won the "Local Government Officials Award 2025, which recognizes local government officials as truly amazing!" Initiatives include creating a storytelling cafe for adults and a "munching time" for people with children, where they can eat together, breathing new life into the library.

■ Creating a friendly city through the establishment of the "Everyone's Department" and the introduction of AI

We want to create a town where children can live with hope, and a community where the entire town can support each other. To achieve this, Yotsukaido City has established a system called the "Everyone's Division," which brings together companies, organizations, and citizens to create a system to support the community. We also plan to focus on further strengthening the consultation system for citizens. As part of this, we plan to conduct a demonstration experiment in December using an AI tool that will be able to respond to consultations from pregnant women, parents raising children, and children and students 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Yotsukaido City will continue to work hard to promote policies with the aim of realizing a "kind town" that reaches out to those who truly need support.

■Message to university students

Society is full of harshness in many ways, and many university students may feel that it's difficult to have hope. However, I think society is surprisingly kind to those who take on challenges. Nowadays, there are more challenges available than in my time, and technology has improved. So, I hope you will have confidence and do what you want to do.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on July 22, 2025 by Chiharu Yamada, second-year student at the University of Information, Management and Innovation

Shimada Hisakazu, third-year student at Hosei University / Yamada Chiharu, second-year student at Information Management and Innovation Professional University / Inomoto Reina, first-year student at Kyoto University of the Arts