This is an English translation of my book entitled “A 70-year-old Wikipedian talks about the charm of libraries.” Chapter 1, The Road to Wikipedia. Previously, click here.
Wikipedia 20th Anniversary Event (Chapter 1-8)
On Saturday, January 23, 2021, I participated in the “Wikipedia 20th Anniversary Event” via Zoom. This event celebrates the 20th anniversary of the founding of the free internet encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2001, and is organized by the Wikipedia 20 JAPAN Executive Committee, a volunteer organization. At the same time as the online Zoom, satellite venues were set up in Nagoya City, Fukui City, Kyotango City, Itami City, and Higashine City. Even though it was held during a pandemic, the event was filled with enthusiasm.
The opening talk, “Wikipedia as a Knowledge Information Infrastructure,” was given by Shusaku Higashi of Open Data Japan, a general incorporated association that makes recommendations on the use of open data. He spoke in an easy-to-understand manner about Wikipedia’s 20-year history, along with his own footsteps, and used statistical data on global trends and Japan’s characteristics. I felt like I was able to think about Wikipedia’s position in today’s society from various perspectives, and vaguely confirm my own position and coordinate axis in the vast world of the Internet. Higashi has been helping us with Wikidata, but it became clear to me that he is involved in a wide range of activities beyond Wikidata.
The next talk was “Wikipedia: 20 Years, What Happened?”, and it was about three young people who played a key role in the early days of the Japanese Wikipedia. They all had unique handle names: suisui, kzhr, and Aokomoriuta. Some of them were middle school students in the early 2000s, and it gave a vivid account of what happened in the first decade. I was once again amazed at how young people in Japan had become central players in Wikipedia in such a short time since it first started in the US, and each of their stories helped me to visualize that situation. Above all, I was impressed by the honest way each of them approached the issue, even though I had thought that all three were just IT geeks.
The third topic was “What Would Happen If Someone From a University Tried Editing Wikipedia?” by Sae Kitamura (Saebo) from Musashi University, Youju Ito from Shiseikan University, and members of the Waseda Wikipedian Circle were on stage. Listening to their talks, it became clear that there are still not many universities that actively support Wikipedia, like the university where veteran Sae Kitamura is. However, I truly hope that not only students who belong to the academic world of universities, but also faculty and staff, will gain experience editing Wikipedia. I especially hope that university librarians, who are involved in various aspects of the creation and dissemination of knowledge, will do so.
The afternoon session started with “Wikipedians Take a “Grab Books from the Shelf” in 2021″. This was a project where Wikipedians chose and introduced books from their own bookshelves. The speakers were Norimaki, Mayonaka no osanpo, and Tobosha. The first two also introduced interesting books, but the highlight was Jun Henmi‘s “Farewell Notes from a Prison Camp (収容所から来た遺書)”, recommended by Tobosha. It is a story about a farewell notes written by a person who was detained in Siberia after the war and died there, addressed to his family in Japan. It was published by Bungeishunju in 1989 and caused quite a stir.
Next, in “Choice of Outstanding Articles,” hosted by Norimaki, Swanee’s “Shimoyama Chitose Hakusai (下山千歳白菜),” Arioto’s article on Venus, and Sakaori’s article on tunnels were introduced. All of them were things I had never heard before, and they were all incredibly excellent, with a wide range of focus from the far reaches of space to deep underground, which left a lasting impression. It also made me realize that each Wikipedian’s writing style and attention to detail are not uniform, which was helpful in learning that there are other ways of doing things.
The last event was the Wikipedia Town Summit 2021. There were reports of Wikipedia Town edit-a-thons in various regions, and Masao Takaku’s precise comments gave me a more detailed understanding of the situation. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to leave early, but I am happy to see that Wikipedia Town’s efforts are spreading across the country. What I felt after participating in this 20th anniversary event was that there are stronger forces trying to make Wikipedia “better” than those trying to make it “worse.” I would like to continue writing articles that link this impression to reality.

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