Contents

• Hacker News Tokyo
• Tokyo Tech Meetup
• Tokyo Tech Leads
• Machine Learning Tokyo
• Tokyo Fintech Meetup
• A11yVR Accessibility Virtual Reality Group
• WebHack Meetup
• Tokyo Python
• Tokyo Startup Founder 101
• ProductTank Tokyo
• Code Chrysalis
• Le Wagon Tokyo
• MercariDev
• Tokyo Linux Users Group
• Tokyo Cyber Security Meetup
• Nerd Nite Tokyo
• Tokyo iOS Meetup
• Tokyo Rubyist Meetup
• Tokyo Rust Meetup
• ODSC Tokyo Data Science
• Tokyo Tech Stack Exchange
• Tokyo Agile Community
• Creative Tokyo
• Dev Japan
• Tokyo Tech Startups
• TOKYO Rails Meetup
• Team AI
• Tokyo Dev Roundtable

• Tokyo UX Meetup

• Women in Tech

  • Women Who Code Tokyo
  • Women in Technology Japan
  • Ladies That UX Tokyo
  • Droid Girls
  • Rails Girls Japan
  • Women in Science Japan
  • AnitaB.org Tokyo
  • Django Girls Japan
  • EdTechWomen (ETW) Tokyo
  • AITC女子会

Hacker News Tokyo

The main language in this community is English.

Hacker News Tokyo is an international community for tech lovers living in Japan. It was created by the founders of IT company MakeLeaps, Jay and Paul.

There are around 2000 users in their Slack Community. It’s a very lively space, with people actively sharing information every day. I highly recommend joining this Slack community — it's one of the best ways to make direct connections with people in the industry here.

If you’re looking for friends, or you just arrived in Japan, introduce yourself in their Slack #_introductions channel. You’re sure to receive a warm welcome from the community :)

Most members are foreigners, but there are also some Japanese people in the group too.

※ As of July 2022, they've restarted their in-person meetups, although the frequency of events going forward is not yet clear.

Interested in exploring Tokyo but don’t have anyone to explore with? Try this friendly community, Tokyo Tech Meetup!!

Tokyo Tech Meetup

※The main language in this community is English. They hold meetups once a quarter.

Tokyo Tech Meetup is an international community for people who love tech from Japan and around the world. They hold regular meetings based on the current affairs of Japanese technology, 3-5 minute ‘lightning’ talks, and social meetings to interact with other members. To help connect the English and Japanese speaking tech communities in Japan, the events are run simultaneously in both English and Japanese. Anyone is free to join, whether you’re studying Japanese or English, an engineer, designer, entrepreneur or just someone who loves technology. We recommend this community for anyone looking to make some tech-loving friends.

The organizers Shane and Shoin in particular present the current tech news in English and Japanese with a great sense of wit, making it a fun and helpful way to learn new information. We recommend taking a listen to them first!

Tokyo Tech Leads

The main language in this community is English.

Created in 2019, the Tokyo Tech Leads Circle is a group for those working in or interested in technical management or technical leadership roles.

Their quarterly meet-ups feature informative speakers, valuable networking opportunities, and complimentary refreshments for all attendees.

Organized by Benjamin, Clement, and Christine, Tokyo Tech Leads Circle is a chance to experience where knowledge and community converge. This is a great place to create meaningful connections within the dynamic fields of engineering management and technical leadership!

Machine Learning Tokyo

This is Tokyo's main English-language ML meetup, and it's super popular.

They are an online, global, nonprofit organization based in Japan. With around 11,000 members working in the machine learning field, they aim to democratize machine learning through Open Education, Open Source and Open Science.

Open Education – They hold AI workshops, study meets, and lectures.

Open Source – Volunteer teams tackle various machine learning projects and publish them on GitHub.

Open Science – They present research papers in workshops at international ML conferences. Working together with Japanese universities and research institutions, they support machine learning researchers from institutes such as University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and RIKEN CBS. They also run workshops and bootcamps on topics relating to machine learning and data science.

Tokyo Fintech Meetup

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

They are a fintech nonprofit community that was founded in Tokyo in 2017 by former Goldman Sachs managing director, Norbert. Their aim is to bring innovation to the Japanese financial industry. In addition to regular meetings, they also upload a podcast where they give a wide range of leading information on Japanese Fintech, Blockchain and Insurtech, which is listened to in over 50 countries. They invite cutting edge startups from Japan and abroad to take part in monthly discussion meetup events, where they discuss how Fintech is reinventing more traditional financial services, such as P2P lending, comparison sites, robo-advisor wealth management, bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

A11yVR Accessibility Virtual Reality Group

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This international community-based in Tokyo shares information about XR/VR/AR, and the accessibility of technology to people with disabilities.

Their aim is to create a society where the views of marginalized minority groups, such as people with disabilities, are properly represented.

They hold regular events and digital forums, as well as inviting XR/VR/AR professionals from the industry to give presentations and talks on accessibility.

WebHack Meetup

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

WebHack Meetup is a non-profit group based in Tokyo. They organize meetups where engineers and engineering managers can share their knowledge and network. The organizers are super enthusiastic about the planning and they make sure everyone has a good time.

Tokyo Python

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This is a community for Python enthusiasts in Tokyo. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, everyone is welcome. They mainly hold study groups where they share their knowledge with each other on the following topics.

Tokyo Startup Founder 101

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This community is made up of engineers thinking of starting their own businesses, as well as experienced technology entrepreneurs who have already done so. They get together to share their startup knowledge with each other, and are building a cooperative startup ecosystem.

In this community, you’ll find the opportunity to receive feedback from local entrepreneurs and investors, attend workshops, and take advantage of a variety of opportunities. There are currently around 4000 members.

ProductTank Tokyo

ProductTank Tokyo is a meetup for anyone interested in product management.

They resumed their regular in-person meetups held once a month.

Want to learn more about working as a PM in Japan? Check out one of their in-person meetups. They've got panel discussions, networking chances and more!

Code Chrysalis

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

Code Chrysalis is a short-term intensive software engineering training school based in Tokyo. Founded by a Silicon Valley native, this school puts an emphasis on teaching not only hard skills, but also soft skills, such as the ‘Silicon Valley spirit’. You can choose to take courses in either English or Japanese.

They regularly hold English meetups and workshops.

Le Wagon Tokyo

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

Launching in Tokyo in 2016, this community offers a coding bootcamp that was created in France. They currently run events in 38 cities around the world. They run regular English meetups and workshops, as well as talk sessions run by engineers from the industry.

MercariDev

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This global technology meetup is run by Mercari, Japan’s first unicorn company. Meetups are normally held in Tokyo. They’re normally held in English, but many participants are bilingual in Japanese and English.

They regularly run very useful events, such as lightning talks from global engineers and debriefings from global tech conferences.

Tokyo Linux Users Group

Non-profit group TLUG is still running physical and online meetups in both English and Japanese. They talk about developing and using Linux and open source software, plus any other interesting projects that group members are working on (including ones not related to Linux).

The group was created by pioneers in Japan's Internet industry. Realizing the importance of Linux, they started the group in 1994.

It was originally called the "LINUX" conference on TWICS (the only ISP in Japan at the time) and had an exciting atmosphere from the start. People used their events to learn and share information about using Linux. One early member said this time “felt like we were all on the edge of this frontier and that together we were taming this networked, high-tech jungle. It was great!”

Tokyo Cyber Security Meetup

※This meetup uses a mixture of English and Japanese.

They’ve shifted most of their discussions to LinkedIn and meetup.com. The events are centered around sharing insights and experiences on cybersecurity, information security, and data privacy from technical, industry, and policy perspectives. They’ve been organizing monthly (virtual) discussions for over 4 years. Also, everyone can exchange ideas and suggest new topics or speakers. They put a value on building a great cybersecurity community together.

Nerd Nite Tokyo

Nerd Nite Tokyo's organizers describe the event as “the Discovery Channel with beer”. It was a monthly event at GRID in Nagatacho. Their English events consist of a mixture of talks, performances, demos, trivia and more. It sounds like a super fun time. The good news is, the events are starting up again.

They resumed their meetups starting Sep 30, 2022. More details about this and future events are on their website.

Tokyo iOS Meetup

※The main language in this community is English.

This group was first started in Tokyo in 2009, and is made up of around 3000 iOS developers. Events are held in English, but are attended by many multinational iOS engineers working in Japan. It’s a great meetup to hear and share the latest iOS technology.

Tokyo Rubyist Meetup

※The main language in this community is English.

The Tokyo Rubyist Meetup is a meetup created to connect Japanese and international engineers who like Ruby. This group primarily uses English.

It seems to be mostly attended by foreign and Japanese engineers who love ruby and live in the Tokyo area. The event is mostly held in English but, as it’s a casual meetup, even those who are not so good at English are welcome to attend.

Tokyo Rust Meetup

※The primary language is English, but they welcome Japanese speakers too.

This is a new meetup group that just started in October 2022.

Organizer Mate has worked at startups in San Francisco and Tokyo, and he is a very friendly and nice guy 🙂

Anyone interested in Rust is welcome to join the meetup!

ODSC Tokyo Data Science

※The main language in this community is English.

With the intention of fostering learning, growth, and connection among its participants, Open Data Science Conference(ODSC) brings together the open-source and data science communities. They typically launch virtual conferences and webinars.

This meetup group's primary objective is to enable ODSC to collaborate with other meetup groups, non-profits, and other organizations to present educational lectures, workshops, code sprints, and networking events to promote the use of open source languages and tools within the data science and data-centric communities.

Tokyo Tech Stack Exchange

※The main language in this community is English.

The Tokyo Tech Stack Exchange(TTSE) is a group of tech enthusiasts who want to support engineers in Japan. They focus primarily on launching live events with occasional online events.

They aim to make it easier for experienced and aspiring engineers to share information and expertise while also assisting them in implementing best practices across the board in the field of software development.

If you want to improve your engineering skills and become the best engineer you can be, you should join this group. Additionally, you will have the chance to form a network of engineers with whom you may exchange ideas for side projects or if you are thinking about switching to a different branch of software development.

Their events come in various formats, including hackathons, pair programming, mock interviews, PechaKucha, and Ignite presentations.

Tokyo Agile Community

※The main language in this community is English and Japanese. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This is a community for people involved in agile development in Tokyo. Based upon the idea that agile development is a keyword for Japanese companies looking to adapt to the digital age of business, this community invites professionals practicing agile development to share their information, experiences and knowledge, in order to learn about the best agile practices. They organize case studies, presentations, workshops, coaching, conferences and other events related to agile development.

Creative Tokyo

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This international meetup for designers is run by Hitomi, an American-born Japanese woman. Although English is the main language, there are also many Japanese speakers too, so those who are still learning English should feel free to join. Anyone who works in creative fields such as UX, UI and graphic design, as well as those with an interest in design, are free to take part.

Dev Japan

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This casual English community is made up of engineers, designers and other tech lovers, who get together once a month to work on projects, study, and make friends. They currently have around 5500 members.

Tokyo Tech Startups

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running irregular online meetup events.

This Tokyo-based community is for entrepreneurs and startups with a strong interest in technology and startups. They hold global meetups in Tokyo, where the main language used is English.

With their mission of bringing the next generation of Japanese startups to the global stage, they bring together startups with global reach to pitch and network with each other in English. There are a large number of early-stage startups, as well as foreign startups who are aiming to break into the Japanese market taking part too. There are currently around 5000 members.

TOKYO Rails Meetup

※The main language is mostly English, but LT can be given in both English and Japanese.

This is an international community for engineers who have an interest in Ruby on Rails. There are a lot of foreign engineers working in Japan and Japanese people studying English in this community.

This community would gather in the large kitchen of the Cookpad office (who run a recipe locating service) in Ebisu where drinks and snacks were served in a home party atmosphere.

Team AI

※The main language in this community is English. They have been holding Clubhouse Meetups regularly.

This is a community for those interested in AI, machine learning and deep learning. Their mission is to democratize machine learning technology, and to raise the skill levels of a wide range of people, from beginners to experts. They regularly hold study groups focusing on specific machine learning topics.

Tokyo Dev Roundtable

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This community holds meetups for people who are using or want to learn to use React, React Native and Ruby on Rails. They focus on group discussions where people can share their knowledge. The discussions are primarily high-level ones that are aimed at experienced practitioners, but beginners are welcome to take part.

Tokyo UX Meetup

※The main language in this community is English. This community is mainly for people working in Tokyo who have an interest in UX.

Everyone is welcome to this community, whether you’re a UX designer, another kind of designer, or simply someone else interested in design, regardless of your nationality. Although presentations are held in English, as many participants speak both English and Japanese, networking is often done in a mixture of the two languages.

Women in Tech

Whilst women are making strides in societies around the world, Japan is lagging behind. In particular, the number of women working in decision-making positions, such as managerial and leadership positions, is extremely low. It is said that Japan has the largest gender inequality in the developed world.

What about in the IT industry? As a matter of fact, whilst the proportion of women-to-men working in IT in Japan is still very low, the number of female engineers and technicians has slowly been rising over the last few years.

This is in part thanks to the support offered by a range of groundbreaking communities that are supporting women working in the STEM field.

Below are some of the organizations and groups working to support women.

Women Who Code Tokyo

※The main language in this community is English. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This is the Tokyo chapter of the global NPO dedicated to empowering women in the technology world「Women Who Code」, whose headquarters are based in San Francisco, North America. Launched in 2011, this global tech community has over 290,000 members in 70 cities across 20 different countries (including software engineers, data scientists, solution architects etc.). In order to help female engineers achieve even more, they run workshops, study groups and conferences to support them.

They have a support system created by a worldwide network of volunteers, which is supported by many actively working engineers. This group has a warm, supportive atmosphere that makes it easy for beginners to get involved, which further strengthens the local network.

Women in Technology Japan

※The main language in this community is English and Japanese. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This community is dedicated to the empowerment of women in the IT industry in Japan. Their mission is to support diversity and entrepreneurship in the IT industry, as well as to increase the number of women working in the industry.

Ladies That UX Tokyo

※This community uses both English and Japanese.

This non-profit organization, based in the UK, aspires to empower women working in the UX field. Their speakers and mentors offer help to all genders, and they regularly hold study groups and workshops in over 40 cities around the world. This community uses both English and Japanese language. Anyone with an interest in UX is welcome to join this community.

Droid Girls

※ The main language used in this community is Japanese. They have been running regular online meetup events.

This is a community for women who are interested in Android.

Each week they hold a workshop where they take a library or service related to Androids, and try to practically use it.

Rails Girls Japan

※The main language in this community is Japanese.

Rails Girls Japan is a local chapter of the global Rails Girls organization that focuses on introducing women to web development using the Ruby on Rails framework.

The goal of Rails Girls Japan is to provide a fun and supportive environment for women to learn about web development and to gain hands-on experience building web applications using Ruby on Rails. By offering these opportunities for learning and development, Rails Girls Japan is working to promote diversity and inclusiveness in the technology industry and to encourage more women in Japan to pursue careers in technology. Whether you are a complete beginner or have some prior experience in programming, Rails Girls Japan provides a welcoming and supportive community for women to learn and grow in their technology skills.

They typically hold events and workshops on a regular basis. The frequency of these events can vary, but they are often held several times a year in different locations across Japan.

If you want to know more, check out Rails Girls Japan's website.

Women in Science Japan

※The main language in this community is English.

Women in Science Japan (WiSJ) is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes the advancement of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in Japan. The frequency of events organized by WiSJ can vary, but they typically hold several events throughout the year, including workshops, networking events, and panel discussions. These events provide opportunities for members to connect with each other, learn from experts in their fields, and develop their professional skills.

The organization serves as a support network for Japanese-speaking women in STEM fields. The goal of WiSJ is to create a supportive community for women in STEM, and to promote gender equality and diversity in these fields in Japan.

WiSJ offers programs and resources that are relevant to women working in a variety of STEM fields, including software engineering. The organization provides a supportive community for women in this field and may offer workshops, mentorship programs, and networking events specifically for software engineers. WiSJ is committed to supporting women in STEM fields and helping them succeed in their careers, regardless of their specific areas of expertise.

AnitaB.org Tokyo

※The main language in this community is English and Japanese.

AnitaB.org is a US-based nonprofit organization created to empower women working in the technology industry.

AnitaB.org Tokyo, based in Tokyo, is open to anyone interested in the technology industry, from beginners to professionals.

Django Girls Japan

The main language used in this community is Japanese.

This is an international community that first started Berlin in July 2014, and has since expanded to many cities around the world. With the aim of bringing the joy of programming to many women, they create and translate tutorials to many languages, as well as holding workshops all around the world. There are many workshops aimed at beginners, which provides an opportunity for all women to enjoy the art of programming.

EdTechWomen (ETW) Tokyo

The main language used in this community is Japanese.

They launched in Japan in 2016. It is a community for women who work in the Japanese technology education field. The main language used in this community is Japanese. Women from diverse backgrounds, not only in the IT field, but also from various fields such as entrepreneurs, school staff and NPOs etc., gather here and can exchange information.

AITC女子会

The main language used in this community is Japanese. They have been running regular online meetup events.

The AITC (Advanced IT utilization consortium) is a community that aims to empower women working in the AITC field. Regardless of which type of job they have (designer, engineers, planning etc.), this community supports women working in the IT field by helping them with「Meeting people・technology・knowledge」.

They hold regular seminars and meetups where women can exchange information, deepen their know-how, and expand their network. This gives these women a greater opportunity to make an impact on society.

What is your other favorite tech community in Japan? Let me know on Twitter !