A Plurality Atlas

What is Mitou (the IPA Mitou program)?

A program that the Japanese government agency IPA has run since 2000, selecting young, exceptional software creators as individuals and nurturing them with a dedicated mentor, called a PM. Several of the people in Japan involved with Plurality and broad listening are alumni of the program or connected with it.

Look through the careers of people in Japan involved with Plurality and digital democracy, and the word "Mitou" comes up again and again. Mitou is a government program that finds and nurtures young software creators with unusual talent. It does not appear in the book Plurality itself, but as a foundation for the networks of people involved, it is essential to understanding how the book spread in Japan.

In short

"Mitou" (未踏, MITOU, literally "untrodden") is a national program that the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA), an incorporated administrative agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, has run since 2000. It finds and nurtures exceptional software talent [1][2].

Its distinguishing feature is that it selects individuals, not companies. Its main track today is for young people under 25. Talent scouts called project managers (PMs) accompany the creators throughout the development period [3][4].

Among the people in Japan involved with Plurality (the idea of using technology to support collaboration among diverse people) and broad listening (gathering and organizing many voices with AI), several are Mitou alumni, including Ken Suzuki, Takahiro Anno, Hirokazu Nishio and Haruyuki Seki (see "For example" and "Mitou as a network of people" below). "Mitou Meikan", a directory of people co-edited by those connected with Mitou, also records these networks [5].

For example

Ken Suzuki and PICSY (fiscal 2002). Ken Suzuki, author of The Nameraka Society and Its Enemies, was selected for Mitou in fiscal 2002 with a project to build demonstration software for a "propagating currency". He was then recognized as an outstanding creator, a "genius programmer / Super Creator" [6][7]. The IPA's materials present this Propagational Investment Currency System (PICSY) as a new monetary system in which value propagates [6]. PICSY is also introduced in a footnote in Plurality [8]. It is covered in more detail in the article on the Nameraka Society.

Takahiro Anno (fiscal 2015). The AI engineer Takahiro Anno was recognized as a Super Creator in fiscal 2015 [9]. This was long before he used broad listening in the 2024 election for Governor of Tokyo.

Broad listening in the governor's election grew out of Mitou Junior ties. In the book Broad Listening (section 4.1), Hirokazu Nishio writes that Nishio and Anno "had known each other for some time through their roles as mentors for Mitou Junior", the program for young people. Because one of the organizers of the April 2023 event "Plurality Tokyo" was a Mitou Junior alumnus, Plurality had been a topic of discussion in the Mitou Junior community since 2023 [10].

In May 2024, Anno contacted Nishio about Plurality. Nishio introduced Anno to Haruyuki Seki, and at that meeting Seki introduced Talk to the City, a tool for organizing opinions, which led to its use in the election [10]. This story is also covered in the article on Takahiro Anno's 2024 Tokyo campaign.

In more detail

Why select "individuals"?

The first call for applications, in July 2000, stated its aim as finding creative individuals or small groups of a few people as "super creators". It also wrote that such budding talent was likely to be buried inside existing organizations. Applications from organizations such as companies were not accepted [11].

Ikuo Takeuchi, a PM involved in the launch, recalls that it began when the then head of the IPA's technology center proposed in the 1990s that Japan, too, should have a mechanism for producing super hackers. The target of support moved from companies to individuals [12]. The title of Takeuchi's 2002 article was "組織力から個人の才能へ" ("From organizational strength to individual talent") [13].

The PM system

At Mitou, decisions on whom to select are left not to committee discussion but to the judgment of each individual PM. Hirokazu Nishio sums up that these two things, support for individual creators and the PM system, are the heart of Mitou [4].

According to the IPA's current explanation, the criteria for recognition as a Super Creator are "novelty (untrodden-ness)", "development ability" and "future potential". On that basis, each PM sets their own standards [14].

How the program changed

In 2002, "Mitou Youth" for younger creators was created. PM Takeuchi wrote, in effect, that the aim was to broaden the base and find a reserve of future super creators [15]. In fiscal 2008, the program was reorganized as the "Mitou IT Human Resources Discovery and Development Program", focused on finding and nurturing young talent [1].

In December 2010, in the "budget screening" (事業仕分け) review of government programs, it was judged "unnecessary", and at one point its continuation was in doubt [16]. In 2014, the Mitou Foundation (a general incorporated association) was formed, centered on alumni [17].

Mitou Junior

In 2016, Mitou alumni started "Mitou Junior" for young people aged 17 or under. The official English page lists the founders as Yu Ukai, Jumpei Arakawa, Hirokazu Nishio, Youhei Yasukawa and Ryou Suzuki [17]. It provides about six months of mentorship and development funding, and since 2016 it has received 1,003 applications and selected 154 people [17][18].

Mitou as a network of people

In 2011, Nishio wrote an article titled "ネットワーク形成システムとしての未踏" ("Mitou as a system for forming networks") [19]. Around Plurality, the following people can also be confirmed in the IPA's lists of selected projects:

What is debated

Where it fits in Plurality

Mitou does not appear in the book Plurality. Its link with the book runs through people. Examples are Ken Suzuki's PICSY (a footnote in chapter 5-7) and dividual democracy (a footnote in chapter 5-6), and the "Quality Control and Nameraka Society" section in chapter 3-3 [8][26].

Mitou alumni and people connected with it are also among those carrying out the practice in Japan: for example, Takahiro Anno (fiscal 2015), who used broad listening in the 2024 governor's election, and Hirokazu Nishio (fiscal 2002, Mitou Youth), who acted as a bridge in bringing it in [9][10][20].

Nishio explains that Mitou values making the most of individual ability and has a culture that thinks well of taking initiative oneself [4]. This is Nishio's view of Mitou, not an argument directly linking it to the ideas of Plurality. The overall picture of the spread in Japan is given in the article on the Plurality movement in Japan.

Further reading

  1. Mitou Foundation (English, official page) — https://www.mitou.org/index_en.html
  2. Broad Listening, chapter 4, section 1 "Takahiro Anno's Initiatives in the 2024 Tokyo Governor Election" (Japanese and English, book) — https://broadlisteningbook.com/
  3. IPA, "未踏事業について" (About the Mitou program) (in Japanese, official page) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/about.html
  4. About Mitou Junior (in Japanese, official page) — https://jr.mitou.org/about
  5. Hirokazu Nishio, "未踏は自発性を重視する" (Mitou values initiative) (in Japanese, notes) — https://scrapbox.io/nishio/未踏は自発性を重視する
  6. Ikuo Takeuchi, "未踏事業11年の軌跡" (Eleven years of the Mitou program) (in Japanese, paper) — https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jssst/28/4/28_4_4_3/_article/-char/ja
  7. Hirokazu Nishio, "ネットワーク形成システムとしての未踏" (Mitou as a system for forming networks) (in Japanese, article) — https://ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp/records/78358

Sources

  1. IPA, "未踏事業について" (About the Mitou program) (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/about.html
  2. Mitou Foundation (in Japanese) — https://www.mitou.org/
  3. IPA, "未踏IT人材発掘・育成事業について" (About the Mitou IT Human Resources Discovery and Development Program) (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/about.html
  4. Hirokazu Nishio, "未踏は自発性を重視する" (Mitou values initiative) (in Japanese) — https://scrapbox.io/nishio/未踏は自発性を重視する
  5. Mitou Meikan (a directory of people co-edited by those connected with Mitou; not an official IPA document, in Japanese) — https://scrapbox.io/mitou-meikan/
  6. IPA, fiscal 2002 Mitou Super Creator materials (Ken Suzuki, in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/qv6pgp000000js0d-att/000050657.pdf
  7. IPA, fiscal 2002 Mitou selection results (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/esp/2002/2002-hontai-koubokekka.html
  8. Plurality, 5-7 "Social Markets" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/5-7/eng/ ［CC0］
  9. IPA, fiscal 2015 Super Creator materials (Takahiro Anno, in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/qv6pgp000000ie9y-att/000053039.pdf
  10. Broad Listening, chapter 4, section 1 "Takahiro Anno's Initiatives in the 2024 Tokyo Governor Election" (Japanese and English) — https://broadlisteningbook.com/ ［CC BY-NC 4.0］
  11. Mitou Software Creation Project, call for applications (July 2000, in Japanese) — https://web.archive.org/web/20030724135758/http://www.ipa.go.jp:80/NBP/12nendo/12mito/downrord/12MitoKoubo.pdf
  12. Ikuo Takeuchi, "未踏事業11年の軌跡" (Eleven years of the Mitou program) (2011, in Japanese) — https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jssst/28/4/28_4_4_3/_article/-char/ja
  13. Ikuo Takeuchi, "組織力から個人の才能へ" (From organizational strength to individual talent) (Joho Shori, 2002, in Japanese) — https://ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp/records/64690
  14. IPA, "スーパークリエータとは" (What is a Super Creator?) (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/qv6pgp0000002gvb-att/about_mitou_supercreator.pdf
  15. IPA, fiscal 2002 Mitou Youth PM summary (Ikuo Takeuchi, Wayback Machine, in Japanese) — https://web.archive.org/web/20030804073918/http://www.ipa.go.jp:80/NBP/14nendo/14youth/1-pm.htm
  16. Computer Software (2011), preface to a special issue (in Japanese) — https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jssst/28/4/28_4_4_2/_article/-char/ja
  17. Mitou Foundation (English version) — https://www.mitou.org/index_en.html
  18. About Mitou Junior (in Japanese) — https://jr.mitou.org/about
  19. Hirokazu Nishio, "ネットワーク形成システムとしての未踏" (Mitou as a system for forming networks) (Joho Shori, 2011, in Japanese) — https://ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp/records/78358
  20. IPA, fiscal 2002 Mitou Youth Super Creator materials (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/qv6pgp000000js0d-att/000050656.pdf
  21. IPA, second half of fiscal 2006 Mitou Youth selection results (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/esp/2006/2006-2-youth-koubokekka.html
  22. IPA, second half of fiscal 2009 Mitou selection results (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/2009/2009-2-hontai/koubokekka.html
  23. IPA, fiscal 2020 Mitou IT overview (in Japanese) — https://www.ipa.go.jp/jinzai/mitou/it/2020/gaiyou_in-1.html
  24. Mitou Meikan, "Plurality Tokyo 2023" (in Japanese) — https://scrapbox.io/mitou-meikan/Plurality_Tokyo_2023
  25. Hirokazu Nishio, "tkgshnの鈴木健批判と和解" (tkgshn's criticism of Ken Suzuki and their reconciliation) (in Japanese) — https://scrapbox.io/nishio/tkgshnの鈴木健批判と和解
  26. Plurality, 3-3 "The Lost Dao" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/3-3/eng/ ; 5-6 "⿻ Voting" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/5-6/eng/ ［CC0］
Related: What is the Plurality movement in Japan? ・ What is the Nameraka Society? ・ What was Takahiro Anno's 2024 Tokyo campaign? ・ What is Broad Listening? ・ What is Digital Democracy 2030 (DD2030)? ・ What is Team Mirai?

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