Hackers Champloo 2026
Overview
An annual engineers' festival run jointly by Okinawa's IT communities since 2013. Built around sessions and lightning talks, its hallmark is a "champloo" (stir-fry) culture where engineers from inside and outside the prefecture mix across specialties. The 2025 edition drew about 140 attendees, free to attend, with even sponsor sessions kept as pure tech talks. In 2026 it shifts from its usual summer slot to October 12 at Tedako Hall in Urasoe.
Program
- Single track with nine talks of about 25 minutes each, including app development for foldable iPhone by Apple and AIOps at ABEMA
- Six lightning talk blocks (7 minutes per talk)
- Three sponsor session slots
- Eve party on the night of Oct 11 in Naha with LT slots, and an after-party at the main venue after the conference
Speakers from past editions
- anatofuz (engineer at Hatena, spoke in 2025)
Foundation
- Founded
- 2013
- Founder
- Volunteers from Okinawa's IT user groups
Founded in May 2013 by Okinawan tech communities such as Java Kuche, JAWS-UG Okinawa, Okinawa.rb, and Okinawa.pm as a joint "summer festival." It invites guests from across Japan so hackers can mingle beyond their specialties.
Transition
- 2013 First held as a summer festival jointly run by Okinawa IT communities
- 2025 Held August 2 in Urasoe City with about 140 attendees and a varied session lineup centered on generative AI
- 2026 Announced for October 12 (Sports Day) at Tedako Hall, with the call for proposals opening in July
Voices
A speaker's report praising the "usual champloo mix," where even sponsor sessions turned into hardcore tech talks, concluding it was "the best conference" (from anatofuz's report, in Japanese)
A first-timer struck by an atmosphere embodying Okinawa's champloo culture, mixing fields and backgrounds alike (from Shinji Akematsu's report, in Japanese)
CEATEC
Japan's largest IT and electronics exhibition. Organized by JEITA, held annually in October at Makuhari Messe. The 2026 theme is 'Transformation.' Over 800 exhibitors and approximately 100,000 visitors. Free admission with registration.
Japan Mobility Show Bizweek 2026
A B2B mobility co-creation event hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). Held in the interim year of the main Japan Mobility Show (biennial at Tokyo Big Sight, drawing about one million visitors), co-located with CEATEC at the same venue and dates. Focused on business matching among automakers, startups, universities, and cross-industry companies, with the online matching tool Meet-up Box available before and after the show.
SPI Japan 2026
A specialist software process improvement conference run by the Japan SPI Consortium (JASPIC) since 2000. It travels to a different host city each year, and in 2026 runs for three days at AOSSA in Fukui City. Built around corporate improvement case studies and tutorials, its ¥40,000 main-conference fee marks it as a dense, practitioner-facing event.