Professor Masaru Munakata of Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development Department of Regional Development Collaboration, received a Letter of Appreciation from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications in commemoration of the 135th anniversary of national suffrage, the 100th anniversary of universal suffrage, and the 80th anniversary of women's suffrage.
This award is given to those who have made distinguished contributions to elections this year, which marks the 135th anniversary of national suffrage, the 100th anniversary of universal suffrage, and the 80th anniversary of women's suffrage.
Professor Munakata has made significant contributions to promoting fair elections and raising political awareness, including serving as chairman of the Fukuoka City Fair Elections Promotion Council for many years. In April of this year, he was appointed "Citizen Education Advisor" to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, where he has been working hard to promote political participation among young people and improve the quality of citizen education, in light of the lowering of the voting age. This letter of appreciation from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications recognizes his wide-ranging achievements in elections.
Professor Munakata's acceptance speech
"We have been able to receive this Certificate of Appreciation from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications thanks to the support of all those involved both inside and outside of our university, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude. The right to vote is an extremely valuable right, as can be seen from the history of its acquisition and expansion. However, voter turnout tends to be particularly low among young people, and the main reasons given for not voting include "not being very interested in elections" and "not understanding politics very well." Politics is closely related to our lives and is by no means "someone else's business." We, as "sovereign citizens," are expected to constantly cultivate our "eyes for politics" and, when it comes to elections, to vote proactively as if it were "our own business." We will continue to do our utmost, however small our contribution may be, to promote positive elections and contribute to the development of sovereign citizens."
[Department of Regional Development]
