Broad Listening Case Study of the Japan Innovation Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WyZ-ybY_aw
The Japan Innovation Party (Ishin) launched “open questions” across several channels, gathering about 300,000 public submissions and analyzing them with AI. In the first phase, the dominant topic was “self‑protection (I want to manage my own assets).” Within one month, public opinion shifted to a concrete reform demand: “lower social‑insurance premiums.”
Participant
Yoshimura Hirohumi – Party leader of the Japan Innovation Party
Fujita Akira – Vice Policy Research Chief
Q1 How was the data collected?
A1
The official site listed three entry points open to anyone:
X (Twitter) hashtag #社会保険料のこれから (“#FutureOfInsurancePremiums”)
A Google Form
The YouTube comment section
Q2 What questions were asked?
A2
Core theme: “How can we lower social‑insurance premiums?”
Open‑ended prompts invited specific proposals, e.g.
“How should premiums be reduced?”
“Which parts of the burden feel unfair?”
“What do you expect from the healthcare and pension systems?”
Q3 What insights were gained?
A3‑1 Time‑series shift in public sentiment
2025‑05‑06: A prominent cluster stressed economic self‑defense
“I can’t trust the government; I want to invest my own money.”
Calls to expand Junior NISA (a tax‑exempt investment account for youth).
2025‑06‑19: The leading cluster became dissatisfaction with premium burdens and demands for reform
“Lower premiums through politics; system reform matters more than individual effort.”
In just one month, the center of gravity moved from resignation to expectation (observed by Vice Policy Research Chief Fujita).
A3‑2 Specific concern surfaced
Excluding OTC‑equivalent drugs from insurance coverage emerged in about 1 % of the 30 k submissions—small overall, but now visible.
Politicians could quickly gauge reactions to their own messaging and see such voices reflected in the crowd.
Party reflections
“AI isn’t making policy for us. It just lets us spot good ideas and strengthen policies from the side.” (Vice Policy Research Chief)
“Policy staff are always anxious—‘Is this really right?’ Being able to decide while viewing so many opinions is hugely reassuring.” (Vice Policy Research Chief)
“Ishin will keep using broad listening and AI to hear many voices and feed them into policy.” (Party leader)