Following up on the success of the inaugural Tokyo Youth Democracy Forum in June 2024, JCIE hosted a second forum on the theme of “Sustaining Universal Values in the Indo-Pacific.” The program convened young leaders and elected officials from several Asian nations, including Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand, to address regional democratic challenges. Three days of meetings, dialogues, and site visits were held covering the topics: sustaining youth interest in the political process, tools to combat misinformation, the need for equal access to information, and practical action that can be taken to bring about meaningful change. Additionally, JCIE presented on the findings of its 2025 youth survey, which demonstrated young people are interested in the topic of democratic governance, but very few feel that their actions have impact.

The forum began with a full day of dialogues and issue-framing discussions covering: 1) Current Attitudes of Young People Toward Politics in Japan; 2) Building Sustainable Political Efficacy for Youth; and 3) Civic Education in and Beyond the Classroom.

The second day of events featured participatory learning at Tokyo’s Democracy Museum, established and operated by the Japan Youth Council, which helped ground the discussion topics in the history of democracy.

On February 4, the forum concluded with a session entitled “Sustaining Universal Values in the Indo-Pacific: A Dialogue with Next-Generation Leaders.” It featured the presentation of a special joint statement detailing actionable policy recommendations for enhancing Asian youth political participation that was developed by participants. The full joint statement, along with JCIE’s recent youth survey results, can be downloaded below.