Higashikurume City

Higashikurume City is updating its methods and processes for civic participation following a revision of its Guidelines for Citizen Participation and Information Provision. As part of this effort, the city operates Liqlid, the online platform for participatory consensus building developed by Liquitous, under the nickname “Kurulid.”

The city is building a cycle of gathering views from a broader range of residents and providing feedback across different themes and settings. These include the latter-stage basic plan of Higashikurume City’s Fifth Long-Term Comprehensive Plan and a student council summit involving elementary school pupils, where elementary and junior high school students discuss the future of their schools and city.

Highlights of the Collaboration

⚫︎Expanding participation from paper-based methods to multiple channels
The revision of Higashikurume City’s Guidelines for Citizen Participation and Information Provision has encouraged efforts to gather a wider range of residents’ voices through more diverse channels. Kurulid was introduced as a place where residents can share their views online at any time, after receiving clear information about the city’s thinking and the background to its policies. This makes it easier to hear from younger residents and people raising children who found it difficult to participate through conventional methods such as paper surveys.

⚫︎A student council summit grounded in 3,593 contributions
The student council summit brings together representatives from the city’s elementary and junior high schools to discuss the future of their schools and community. Last year, the city updated its approach: in addition to the representatives attending on the day, all fifth- and sixth-grade elementary pupils and first- to third-year junior high school students in the city were invited to submit views online beforehand. A total of 3,593 contributions were received, and the summit’s discussions were based on the results of analyzing these views on Kurulid.

⚫︎Making the process transparent by reporting back
For every theme, the city is also establishing a way to provide residents with clear feedback on the views received, how they will be discussed at the next stage, and what they will inform afterward. This creates a transparent and responsive process that goes beyond simply gathering or listening to opinions.

About the Municipality

Higashikurume City, Tokyo, lies approximately 24 kilometers northwest of central Tokyo, near the center of the Musashino Plateau. With natural resources including springs, rivers, and green spaces, the city combines a comfortable residential environment with access to central Tokyo.

Population: 116,779
Households: 57,954
(As of July 1, 2026)

Overview of the Collaboration

The collaboration with Higashikurume City began through the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s startup support program, “UPGRADE with TOKYO.”* Several startups proposed solutions to administrative challenges identified by the city. Liquitous’s proposal aligned with the city’s concerns, leading to a collaboration supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Following a 13-month pilot, the city found that the platform could gather a wide range of views, including from residents who had been difficult to reach through conventional methods. The collaboration has continued beyond the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s support period.

Platform name: Kurulid digital bulletin board

Responsible division: Planning and Coordination Division, Planning and Management Office

Using divisions: Planning and Coordination Division and Secretariat and Public Relations Division of the Planning and Management Office; Children and Families Center of the Children and Families Department; and Instruction Office of the Education Department

* On November 19, 2024, Liquitous director Fujii won the 42nd UPGRADE with TOKYO pitch event, “Using Digital Technology to Make City Government Communication Clear and Enable Residents to Share Opinions Easily.” The event was hosted by the Startup Support Section, Commerce and Industry Division, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to address metropolitan policy challenges through collaboration with startups. This award led to the pilot.

Outcomes and Significance of the Student Council Summit

As of July 2026, the collaboration with Higashikurume City continues to expand. Below, we focus on the student council summit involving elementary school pupils and introduce the outcomes seen so far.

Overview of the FY2025 Student Council Summit

Higashikurume City regularly holds a student council summit involving elementary school pupils, where representatives of the city’s elementary and junior high schools discuss the future of their schools and community. In FY2025, the city invited online views in advance from pupils and students throughout the city, beyond just the representatives attending the summit, asking, “What do you think we should do to make this a city that excites everyone?” A total of 3,593 contributions were received. On the day, student representatives held discussions based on an analysis of those views in Kurulid. Children who submitted views online also received online feedback showing what others had said and how their contributions were used in the summit discussions.

Timeline

▼ The 3,593 contributions received
https://higashikurume-city.liqlid.jp/spaceicpb6gfn

▼ Feedback materials for pupils and students (excerpt; read the full materials here)

Concrete Outcomes

⚫︎Organizing children’s voices into a foundation for discussion
The 3,593 contributions were quickly summarized and their key issues extracted on Kurulid, providing a foundation for group discussions among the student representatives. While conventional paper surveys required considerable time for tabulation and analysis, Kurulid’s AI made it possible to complete these tasks in a short period.

⚫︎Responding to contributions and making the results easy to understand
Details of the views gathered online and the proceedings on the day were later shared with pupils and students who could not attend the summit. Whereas survey results had often been published as lengthy documents, this time the feedback materials were designed to be intuitively understandable to children from fifth grade through the third year of junior high school.

Looking Ahead

By using new digital channels, Higashikurume City is beginning to establish a system for hearing from a broader and more diverse range of residents, reporting back to them, and reflecting their views in plans. Challenges remain in encouraging active use across city departments and supporting residents who are less familiar with digital tools, including older people.

City staff describe Liquitous as “a partner we can consult and work with when difficulties arise, rather than simply a system provider or contractor.” They have also commented that proposals grounded in our academic knowledge brought new options to situations where existing precedents might otherwise have been followed.

Higashikurume City and Liquitous will continue exploring ways to connect residents’ voices, including those of children, to community development across a wider range of themes.

(Published on August 31, 2026)