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Political group Team Mirai leader set to secure 1st victory in Japan upper house race

Political group Team Mirai leader set to secure 1st victory in Japan upper house race

The Mainichi3 days ago
TOKYO -- Takahiro Anno, leader of the political group Team Mirai, is set to secure his first victory in the July 20 House of Councillors proportional representation bloc, in which 50 seats are being contested.
Anno, 34, is an artificial intelligence engineer. He gained recognition after garnering approximately 150,000 votes without the backing of any political party in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in the summer of 2024, though he did not win.
Team Mirai was founded by Anno in May 2025 with the aim of creating a Japan where "technology won't allow anyone to be left behind." In its first election, the team fielded candidates, mainly IT engineers and entrepreneurs, in various constituencies as well as in the proportional representation bloc.
The election campaign was centered around the slogan "Not fueling division." On the policy front, Anno promoted the "digital democracy 2030" project, which aims to use AI and other digital technologies to reflect public opinion in politics and administration. He emphasized the creation of an engineering team in Tokyo's Nagatacho district -- the center of Japanese politics -- using party subsidies to advance digital transformation in the political sphere, with a focus on enhancing child care and social welfare.
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