As the first nudge unit in the Japanese local government, Yokohama Behavioral insights and Design Team has been established by voluntary members from the Yokohama City government. Our goal is to increase citizens’ well-being by integrating ideas and methods of behavioral science into city policies.
YBiT is the only nudge unit in Japan appointed as “Nudge Ambassador” by Minister of the Environment in December 2019.
Yokohama City is located in the south of Tokyo Metropolitan Area and is one of the biggest local governments in Japan. With a population of 3.7 million, the city has always led Japanese government policy making in cooperation with various players, including national government, academia and international organizations.
One of the flagship projects is the Yokohama Smart City Project – with more than 30 leading energy-related companies and institutions, we have coordinated 17 projects. This includes the field experiment of RCT with 3,500 residents for energy-saving action using BI (Ito, Ida and Tanaka, 2016).
Based on our experience and sprit of innovation, we strive to solve policy problems by leveraging BI to every applicable city policy, not only in the field of climate change but also in public health and medical care and others.
KEY roles of YBIT
Toolkit in Japanese
Behavioural Insights Team :EAST Framework – Original / Japapese Edition by YBiT
*”EAST” is a registered trademark of Behavioural Insights Ltd.
Workshop and Capacity Building
- Monthly study group participated by public servants, academic researchers, and specialists from private companies
- Seminars and workshops for city staff
Network
We work with behavioral scientists and specialists from:
Yokohama City University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, University of Chicago
Behavioral Science Team (BEST) – Japanese Government’s Nudge Unit
The Behavioural Insights Team,the UK
ideas42,the United States
Environmental Behavioural Sciences and Economics Research Unit (EBERU), Singapore
OECD
WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO)
Resources (excerpt)
July 5, 2019 – Our member on web magazine
July 15, 2019 – Interviewed by Nikkei Newspaper
November 10, 2019 – Oral Session in Behavioral Economics @ The 13th Annual Conference of Association of Behavioral Economics and Finance, Japan
November 10, 2019 – Our members on Basic of Nudge by Dr Shusaku Sasaki
December 26, 2019 – Presentation in Japan Nudge Unit BEST meeting in Ministry of Environment, Appointed as Nudge Ambassador (in Japanese)
February 13, 2020 – Presentation in Japan Nudge Unit BEST meeting in Ministry of Environment as Nudge Ambassador (in Japanese)
Who we are
- Hirokazu Tsuda, Founder
- Yuta Takahashi, Director
- Kohei Ohyama, Manager and Public Relations
- Dr Yukio Suzuki, Evaluation specialist
- Soshi Domae, Data specialist
- Junko Kasuga, Public Relations
- Dr Yuriko Yamamoto, Evaluation specialist,
- Yusuke Takagi, BI Specialist, Vice director
- Minami Nagasawa, Secretariat, Vice director
- Koji Ikeya, BI Specialist,
- Koki Tanabe, BI Specialist
- Erika Fujitomi, BI Specialist,
- Seitaro Kondo, Evaluation Specialist
- Kaichi Otsuka, BI Specialist,
- Tomomi Kikuchi, Secretariat
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Kazue Nagata, Secretariat