Tatsuyoshi Saijo and the Birth of Future Design. In Japan, economist Tatsuyoshi Saijo had a simple yet radical question: What if we invited the people of the future into today’s decision-making? While studying how short-term thinking harms societies, Saijo discovered that when citizens are asked to imagine themselves as people living fifty years ahead, they make wiser, more sustainable choices. He called this practice Future Design—a structured way for communities to “time-travel” into the next generation’s shoes. Beginning in the small city of Yahaba, residents met in two groups—“current citizens” and “future citizens.” The “future” group consistently proposed policies that favored long-term well-being over immediate gain. The results astonished officials and spread across Japan, then to Wales, Finland, and beyond. Saijo’s discovery turned imagination into civic responsibility—showing that empathy across time can be as transformative as empathy across generations. It’s a model for how we, too, might design a more generous democracy.
Tatsuyoshi Saijo and the Indirect Power of Future Design. Economist Tatsuyoshi Saijo never set out to start a movement. His question was quieter, almost philosophical: How do we make decisions that honor those who will live after us? From that question emerged Future Design—a civic experiment that asked ordinary citizens to imagine themselves as people from the year 2060. When they did, something remarkable happened: their priorities shifted from personal gain to collective well-being, from short-term convenience to long-term stewardship.
In the language of the Physics of Change, Saijo worked indirectly—not by changing policies or power structures himself, but by reshaping the mental field in which choices occur. His method revealed a new social force: empathy extended through time. Future Design alters the conditions under which wisdom can arise, the way gravity bends the path of light.
This same principle animates our work at Let’s Be Changemakers. Elders, through memory and reflection, can act as “time travelers” for democracy—evoking both the ancestors who shaped us and the descendants who will inherit what we build. By shifting perspective, not just behavior, we exercise the indirect power that changes everything: we prepare the future by re-designing the present mind.
Tatsuyoshi Saijo and the Indirect Power of Future Design. Economist Tatsuyoshi Saijo never set out to start a movement. His question was quieter, almost philosophical: How do we make decisions that honor those who will live after us? From that question emerged Future Design—a civic experiment that asked ordinary citizens to imagine themselves as people from the year 2060. When they did, something remarkable happened: their priorities shifted from personal gain to collective well-being, from short-term convenience to long-term stewardship.
In the language of the Physics of Change, Saijo worked indirectly—not by changing policies or power structures himself, but by reshaping the mental field in which choices occur. His method revealed a new social force: empathy extended through time. Future Design alters the conditions under which wisdom can arise, the way gravity bends the path of light.
This same principle animates our work at Let’s Be Changemakers. Elders, through memory and reflection, can act as “time travelers” for democracy—evoking both the ancestors who shaped us and the descendants who will inherit what we build. By shifting perspective, not just behavior, we exercise the indirect power that changes everything: we prepare the future by re-designing the present mind.