Ichini Co., Ltd.
Announcement of the start of joint research with Toriumi Laboratory at the University of Tokyo based on “voting matching”
Ichini Co., Ltd. (Representative Director: Taku Takahata,
Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo), which operates Japan’s largest election information portal site “Senkyo.com”, is the Toriumi Laboratory of the University of Tokyo (Fujio Toriumi, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo). (Professor, Graduate School of Systems Innovation), we will start joint research to analyze the interests and behavior of voters from the user data of our in-house developed “Vote Matching”. We will provide Toriumi Laboratory with data on the results of vote matching conducted from 2021 onwards, and analyze factors related to voting decision-making, such as what voters paid attention to in the pledges appealed by political parties and candidates.
Through vote matching, our company aims to stimulate interest in elections and motivation to vote, and improve the stagnant voter turnout. Through this joint research, we would like to analyze the thoughts of the young nonpartisan group, who are the core users of vote matching, and provide society with basic data for promoting next-generation voting behavior. I’m here. We hope that it will help voters to become more interested in local politics and administration, which is familiar to them, and help build a better society. An interim summary of the analysis results is scheduled to be published around April 2023.
[Image 1
* “Vote matching” is a web-based system that allows you to measure the “matching degree” between users and political parties and candidates by answering the questions that are the points of contention in each election on a five-point scale. . Answers can be used on smartphones, PCs, etc., and have been used by a total of 5.2 million people so far. Collected data is not linked to personal information and can be used by anyone, anywhere.
A system that originated in the Netherlands, it has been spreading in Japan since the 2000s, mainly in national elections, and is also being implemented by major newspaper companies. Ichini was held in the 2021 House of Representatives election, the 2022 House of Councilors election, the 2022 Okinawa gubernatorial election, the Miyazaki gubernatorial election, the Shinagawa Ward mayoral election and re-election, and the Koganei mayoral election.
[Joint research name]
Collaborative Research on Analysis of Voter’s Voting Behavior Based on “Vote Matching”
[Background of joint research]
In Japan, the voter turnout has been declining year by year, and was about 52.1% in the 2022 House of Councilors election, the most recent national election. In particular, voter turnout among young people under the age of 30 is at a lower level than other generations. On the other hand, since the ban on “Internet elections” was lifted in April 2013 in Japan, the percentage of people using the Internet as a source of information for choosing who to vote for has been on the rise. According to the latest survey by the Bright Election Promotion Association, about 42% of those aged 18 to 29 use the Internet, and it is becoming a major medium after television and newspapers.
[Image 2
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Voter turnout by age group in national elections:
https://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/news/sonota/nendaibetu/ [Image 3
Source: Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Bright Election Promotion Association 49th House of Representatives General Election National Awareness Survey (issued in March 2022)
[Features of voting matching]
70 to 80% of the respondents “do not support a political party”, the majority of the so-called “nonpartisan class”
60% of users are 18-39 years old
[Characteristics of research]
We will analyze the relationship between the policies promoted by candidates in national and local elections and the policies of interest to voters, mainly young independent voters. The analysis of the decision-making process of the so-called “nonpartisan class”, who do not support any political party, is an advanced case in Japan. Analyze how your campaign pledges influenced voters’ voting behavior in local elections, where issues are less visible than in national elections.
■ The University of Tokyo Toriumi Laboratory ■
His main research themes are the design of social systems based on computational social science and the social application of artificial intelligence technology. Mining (technique for extracting meaningful information from big data) and modeling (reproducing social conditions in virtual space and conducting simulations) are targeted at systems composed of a large number of people, such as societies and groups. , design is the pillar of our research. Recently, I have been conducting research to explore the relationship between society and the media, using themes such as the development of risk reduction methods in the information space, such as the analysis and countermeasures of flaming and false rumors, and the analysis of news browsing behavior. Laboratory official website: http://syrinx.q.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ Profile of Professor Fujio Toriumi:
https://www.sys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/memberpage/%E9%B3%A5%E6%B5%B7%E4%B8%8D%E4%BA%8C%E5% A4%AB/
■ Ichini Co., Ltd. ■
We operate the election information portal site “Senkyo.com,” which is used by 22 million users annually (2021 results), and manages a database of domestic election information and candidate information. By building a platform related to elections and politics and maintaining information transparency, we support the creation of an environment in which voters can more easily participate in politics. In addition, we will hold study sessions for local assembly members, create diverse networks through public-private-academia collaboration, and promote innovation through open discussions.
Official website: https://ichi-ni.jp/
Election dot com official website: https://go2senkyo.com/
Details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000087.000019431.html
MAIL:cr@prtimes.co.jp