Do you remember the ‘A German Team’ internet meme in 2016? This year at Wikimania Nairobi, I played a bit as a member of the German Team. I am KITAMURA Sae, a Wikimedian from Japan and active in Japanese Wikipedia. I can’t speak German, and I have never lived in Germany. Somehow this year I went to Nairobi as a Wikimedia Deutschland scholar. This is my modest travelogue about Wikimania Nairobi 2025.
Before Nairobi
It all started in Wikimania Katowice 2024. I am diagnosed with ASD and ADHD, and attended a session about the Wikipedia editing course for autistic people. I shoud say that this talk was not well received by neurodiverse Wikimedians present at the session, including me – after listening to the talk, I was a bit depressed because I felt that the Wikimedia community considered us as ‘new recruits’, or a category of people who had to be introduced to Wikipedia. I just wanted to shout, ‘We are already there! We have been around since the down of Wikimedia!’. So, I decided to organise an impromptu meetup for neurodiverse Wikimedians. A small number of neurodiverse Wikimedians showed up, and we shared our feelings and thoughts.
At the meetup, I met Domenika, a Wikimedian from Germany who had organised a similar meetup in the previous year. We talked about the importance of neurodiversity in the Wikimedia community, and agreed that if we could set up a new user group, it would be very cool.
After Wikimania Katowice 2024, Domenika contacted me about the ‘tandem scholarshop’ offered by Wikimedia Deutschland. Wikimedia Deutschland was going to provide several international Wikimedians working on projects with German Wikimedians. I didn’t think I could go to Nairobi because it is too far from Tokyo and the trip would be too expensive. Domenika’s plan, however, was appealing: we would organise a meetup for neurodiverse Wikimedians again and talk about setting up a new user group. I decided to get on board, and we submitted the application form.
Fortunately, our application was approved, and I was to set my foot on Africa for the first time in my life. The first thing, or song, that came up to my mind was ‘Shots‘ (I know this song is about drinking, but every time I listen to this after COVID-19, I think of the different kind of shots). I am a very careless person, and due to my ASD and ADHD, I am always falling to the ground and getting injured. If I had a traffic accident or something in Nairobi because of my carelessness, it might be a serious health risk. I decided to get as vaccinated as possible (?), and as a result, I had about 12 shots of vaccines before going to Nairobi, including yellow fever vaccination. I am always subject to troubles, but at least I am now immune to major dangerous infectious diseases.
In addition to listening to LMFAO and getting shots, I prepared kimono. Two other fellow female Wikimedians were to go to Nairobi, and we decided to take kimono with us. Wikimania usually has a national costume day, and we wanted to participate in it. The problem was that I couldn’t wear kimono by myself. Over 80 % of Japanese women can’t wear kinomo by themselves because it is very difficult to wear. I turned to my mother for advice, and she made me separate-type kimono, which was much easier to wear.
I also created two types of joke stickers for Wikimania. At Wikimania, many participants exchange stickers, most of which are Wikimedia-related. I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones, and made a sticker related to it. The other one had a message, ‘This machine trolls fascists’, on it: it is a parody of Woody Guthrie’s iconic slogan on his guitar, ‘This machine kills fascists’.
Arriving in Nairobi
I arrived in Nairobi on 4 August with the two female Wikimedians from Japan. The others headed to Trademark Hotel, and I went to Gigiri Lion Villa 2, one of the two Lion Villa hotels where Wikimedia Deutschland scholars were to stay. A lovely tabby cat greeted me.
As soon as I arrived in Nairobi, my laptop was broken. It wouldn’t turn on at all. Since all the files I was going to use for my sessions were stored in it, I was completely upset. However, I contacted Eugene, another fellow Wikimedian from Japan who was going to arrive in Nairobi in the morning on 6 August. I asked Eugene to bring my smaller laptop to Nairobi. I also contacted my family in Tokyo, and Eugene received it from my partner (he is also a Wikimedian). I managed to get my laptop about two hours before my first session! Well, considering that I had got my handbag and passport stolen in Stockholm on the first day of Wikimania 2019, this was not as bad…
In the afternoon of 4 August, I went to Karen Blixen Museum. Karen Blixen is a popular Danish novelist known for Out of Africa and Babette’s Feast. Karen Blixen Museum was a lovely literary museum, and I met a tree hyrax, a pretty animal I had never heard of, in the garden of the museum. The museum was impressive, and I created the Japanese Wikipedia article of Karen Blixen Museum as part of Pitabangan Nairobi.
On 5 August, the day of pre-conferences, I attened Global GLAM meetup. I had worked as a Wikimedian in Residence at Trinity College Dublin (the first Wikimedian in Residence from the Japanese Wikimedia community) from June 2024 to March 2025, and understranding the global trend of Wikimedia GLAM is always my priority. On this day, perhaps something was wrong with the sound system, and the enhanced sound had very bad echo through the room. Presenters speaking through the microphone sounded weird.
After the pre-conference GLAM meetup, a dinner party was held for Wikimedia Deutschland scholars at Gigiri Lion Villa 2. I was reunited with Domenika, and enjoyed food with other scholars. I was one of the four international guest scholars, and all the other scholars were from Germany, lived in Germany, or active in German projects. They all spoke to me in English and were friendly. Wikimedia Deutschland is the oldest national chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation, and its community is far bigger and better organised than the Japanese Wikimedia community – the Japanese user group is new and small, and I am not officially its member. Perhaps I felt a bit like OKUDERA Yasuhiko, the first Japanese football player in the Bundesliga, surrounded by prominent German Wikimedians…
Wikimania Officially Kicks Off
Wikimania 2025 officially kicked off on 6 August. I had two big sessions on the first day. I wore kimono to Trademark Hotel, the main venue of Wikimania.
The first talk I presented was ‘The Problem of Anti-Kurdish Bias in Japanese Wikipedia‘. The anti-Kurd sentiment has become a serious social issue in Japan, and Japanese Wikipedia has also been influenced by this trend. This situation is not known outside of the Japanese Wikimedia community at all, and I wanted to introduce the topic, or the danger of this trend, to a wider Wikimedia community. This session was not livestreamed for two reasons: it included presentations of sensitive photos as well as references to racism, and I had become a target of online harassment by anti-immigration advocates because of my anti-racist and feminist views. I have received creepy letters and e-mails at my university office several times. If my talk had been streamed, I might have attracted more unwanted attention from anti-immigration pundits. The talk was well attended, and since this problem was closedly related to the anti-Korean sentiment in Japan, I would like to thank Korean Wikimedians who attended it and gave me valuable comments.
Domenika and I also had a meetup for neurodiverse/neurospicy Wikimedians during lunchtime. The number of participants was small, but we decided to prepare for setting up a user group for neurodiverse people. I believe that neurodiverse Wikimedians have greatly contributed to the Wikimedia Movement, and that by enhancing our potential we will make the Wikimedia community a better, fairer, and cooler place.
After these two sessions, I felt a bit relaxed, and enjoyed other sessions very much. I took many photos, listened to other Japanese Wikimedians’ sessions, and got to know other Wikimedians. Since my day job is a researcher, I attended various research-related sessions. I was able to meet other researchers at a research meetup, and they gave me useful advice. ‘State of Wikimedia Research 2024-2025‘ was a good showcase for imporatant research projects including ones supported by Wikimedia Research & Technology fund. ‘Echoes of Hegemony: Media Dominance in Chilean Political Content on Wikipedia‘ was also insightful, focusing on a research project dealing with what kind of sources Chilean political articles in Wikipedia used.
The last session I organised was a disaster. I planned a Wikipedia-themed film night, but it was allocated to a distant room in Tribe Hotel in the same time slot as karaoke. No one showed up, and the film night was cancelled. I was very sad, and I would never plan this type of event in future Wikimedia conferences…
After Nairobi
I gained many things at Wikimania. First, various stickers and pamphlets! The exchange corner at Wikimania is always filled with fun.
Second, the plan to set up a user group for neurodiverse Wikimedians is under way. We have already started a Telegram group to prepare for the new user group. We would like to meet neurodiverse Wikimedians from various regions, and if you are interested in it, please contact me!
Third, I reunited with Wikimedians I had met in past conferences, especially ESEAP Wikimedians. The collaboration between ESEAP regions is getting more and more important. During Wikimania, I talked to other ESEAP Wikimedians about future ESEAP events, and I was asked to serve as a scholarship committee member of Wikimedia ESEAP Conference 2025. I am looking forward to work with other committee members. I have been in active in Wikimedia for 15 years, and it is time I worked as a (not so) ‘wise old woman’ of the community. I have to help younger generations of ESEAP Wikimedians.
Finally, I met new people at Wikimania. Playing for the German team for a while was an interesting experience for me. Germany-related Wikimedians staying at Gigiri Lion Villas were energetic and motivated.
I hope I gave something useful to the people I met at Wikimania, as I received many things from them. At Wikimania, I have always tried to provide knowledge about Japanese Wikipedia to Wikimedians outside our community – Japanese Wikipedia is a relatively large-scale Wikipedia (13th largest), but separated from other Wikipedias because it is mostly run by residents in one country who cannot speak languages other than Japanese. Japanese Wikipedia has a distinctive culture and problems surrounding it, which fascinates and embarrasses me at the same time. I would like to offer information about our community to the outside world.
Well, at least my stickers were all gone, if my attempt to carry the news was not successful. My ‘This machine trolls fascists’ stickers were photographed and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as ‘Inspiring sticker idea at Wikimania‘! And matcha snacks I brought to Wikimania were also gone in a moment. I think I passed something to other Wikimedians!
Wikimania is, in my personal view, like a Brigadoon, or an enchanted village appearing only once in a century (There is a famous musical called Brigadoon). The Wikimedia Movement is the last paradise on the Internet, where the good old ideal of free DIY culture still survives. It comes into being once a year on Earth as Wikimania. I hope Wikimania’s magic will never fade.
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