On Thursday, March 5th, at the "135th Anniversary of National Suffrage, 100th Anniversary of Universal Suffrage, and 80th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage Commemorative Awards" ceremony, Professor Munakata Masaru of the Department of Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development, Department of Regional Development, and the Fukuoka City Bright Elections Promotion Group "CECEUF" (2025 Representative: Kaito Izumi, a fourth-year student Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science Department of Electrical Engineering, Amakusa Technical High School) were presented with a "Certificate of Appreciation from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications" on behalf of Ishida Yusuke, Chief of the Election Division of the Fukuoka City Election Commission Secretariat, in recognition of their contributions to elections.
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 2025, he was appointed "Citizen Education Advisor" for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, where he is working to promote young people's political participation and improve the quality of citizen education in light of the lowering of the voting age.
Meanwhile, CECEUF, the only organization in the country to receive this award, is made up of volunteer university students from Fukuoka City, and aims to increase voter turnout among young people by conducting election awareness activities through support for outreach classes run by Fukuoka City and unique election awareness activities using social media. Izumi joined the organization in her second year, and this year she has been active as its representative.
Professor Munakata said, "I am very pleased that the activities I have been working on up to now have been recognized in this way. I owe it to all the people involved both inside and outside the university that made it possible for me to receive this award, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude. With so-called 'online elections' becoming mainstream, voters are now being asked to acquire 'information literacy.' I will continue to apply the knowledge I have gained from my activities and experiences to the field of citizen education."
Izumi commented on receiving the award, saying, "Since CECEUF was founded in 2009, we have taken over the activities built by our predecessors, and with the support of many people, we have been able to receive this award.I am very happy that this is the only group award to be given in the country, and I hope that the circle of our activities will spread to our juniors and throughout the country."
[Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development / Faculty of Science and Engineering]
