I contributed in the West-Japan Wikimedia Conference 2025/State of the Map Japan 2025, held at the Osaka University Nakanoshima Center on December 6, 2025, as a member of the Wikimedians of Japan User Group, one of the organizers. The event also featured invited speakers from Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea, and information on ESEAP 2026 was also available. Approximately 200 Wikimedians and OpenStreetMap (OSM) related people attended the venue, and nearly 40 OSM- and Wikimedia-related sessions were held across three venues, with related booths also exhibiting. I acted as timekeeper for the 15 presentations over two and a half hours, allowing me to listen to a variety of interesting presentations.
One of the presentations was by a doctor who has been contributed in Wikipedia editing for many years and has edited numerous medical-related articles. Writing articles in the highly specialized field of medicine presents high hurdles, and maintaining quality is also challenging. Many of the efforts, successes, and challenges involved were shared. I would love to see more editors in this field. Regarding OSM, I found the bear detection system using blockchain technology fascinating. When I first learned about blockchain, I was impressed by what an incredible information technology it was, but I was surprised to learn that it could also be used to deal bears that appear throughout Japan.
I gave a presentation on the “Yokohama Editathon,” which took place from October to November. This was part of an event exhibited at the Library Fair & Forum held in Yokohama, called “Wikimedia World at Library Fair 2025.” The Editathon, themed around Yokohama, aimed to expand the content of Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and other sites. Wikimedians not only from Japan, but also from Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and Morocco contributed. Wikivoyage events were also spontaneously created, and overall we achieved a wide range of results.
I believe this kind of chain of spontaneous collaboration reflects the essence of the Wikimedia movement, and I hope to continue these efforts in the future. It was also a very fruitful experience, as I was able to talk with many people involved in OSM throughout the event. Thank you to everyone contributed.
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