The role played by young people in promoting information technology in society was highlighted in early December when a teenage company executive was recognized and won an award for being the person most representative of the IT revolution.
Hitoshi Kinoshita, 18, a Waseda University High School student and chief operating officer of an online network company, was chosen for the award by Tokyo publisher Jiyu-Kokuminsha because of his achievements in helping the "IT revolution," a phrase the company called its buzzword of the year.
In winning the award, Kinoshita beat off competition from Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who has vigorously promoted IT last year despite never having touched a keyboard before last summer.