Hiroshi Harada, a 23-year-old associate of the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, better known as Matsushita Seikei Juku, gets up before 6 a.m. every day, does exercises to an NHK radio program and cleans up around the institute's main gate with other associates.
After breakfast and a morning meeting, Harada's study period begins. Between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., he listens to lectures by academics, politicians and businesspeople selected by the institute and often involves himself in discussions over Japan's policies and future.
"Politics is critically important because it has the power to change society," said Harada, who joined a three-year program in April at the institute in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. He hopes to become a politician one day.