FOSS4G Global Comes to Japan: Hiroshima 2026

Introduction

FOSS4G conferences are held in countries and regions around the world. This time, FOSS4G Global, which takes place once a year, was held in Japan for the first time.

This article reports on FOSS4G Hiroshima 2026 as a whole. It includes plenty of photos and links, so follow the ones that interest you as you read. I hope it helps attendees look back on the event and gives those who could not attend a sense of the atmosphere.

Event overview

FOSS4G Hiroshima 2026 was held in Hiroshima over one week. Workshops Day ran for two days and corresponds to the “Hands-on Day” at FOSS4G events in Japan. The Main Conference ran for three days and corresponds to the “Core Day.” Other related events took place as well.

According to the closing announcement, 828 people from 65 countries and regions took part. Of the 746 who said which country or region they came from, more than half were from outside Japan.

Because this was an international conference, the keynotes had simultaneous Japanese-English interpretation, but announcements and conversations were mostly in English. Still, many participants were from Japan, since the event was held here, and there were moments to relax and speak Japanese. I had never attended an international conference and was nervous about communicating in English, but I could start conversations from common topics like QGIS and had a rewarding time.

FOSS4G Hiroshima 2026

Workshops Day

A total of 53 workshops were offered. Over the two days, participants could take one workshop in the morning and one in the afternoon. I heard that 274 people took part and 700 seats were filled.

I took two workshops: “QField & QFieldCloud: Hands-On Fieldwork Workshop” and “Custom tile servers with MapLibre/Martin/Planetiler - base and overlays Workshop.” I had heard that the QField & QFieldCloud course included fieldwork and was especially looking forward to it. The hands-on practice went as far as advanced usage, such as adding data outdoors to a project created indoors and then editing attribute forms back inside.

I sometimes lead workshops myself, so I learned a lot beyond how to use the tools, such as how to combine fieldwork with classroom instruction and how to run a workshop on a company's own product.

I also joined the workshops as support staff for a course hosted by my company, not only as a participant. The article below also describes how that workshop went.

Main Conference

The Main Conference ran for three days. It included 237 general sessions of 30 minutes each and 41 lightning talks of 5 minutes each, among others, with sessions running in parallel across 14 tracks. There were also poster sessions and presentations of projects by high school students.

You can check the outline of each presentation at the link below. Some presentations have materials attached, so take a look at the details of any that interest you.

Listening to the presentations

The content varied: tool development, use cases, and user community activities. Hearing issues and cases specific to each presenter's country or region is something only a conference that draws people from around the world can offer, and I heard many talks I could never have heard in Japan.

The Q&A sessions were also memorable. Many people did not simply ask a question. They first shared their impressions, or framed their question around their own experience. I felt this was a big difference from conferences in Japan.

Because several tracks ran at the same time, I could not hear every presentation I was interested in. Archive videos are scheduled to be published later, though, so people who could not attend or who missed a talk can watch afterward.

Giving a presentation

Besides listening, I also had the opportunity to present in a general session. I talked about how QGIS LAB was launched and what it is particular about in building the site and writing articles.

In the Q&A, I received a comment and a question about how difficult it is to learn in Portuguese. After the presentation, I was able to discuss learning in one's native language and the role of media with that person and other attendees.

I wrote up my impressions and the content of the presentation in the article below. If you are interested, read it as well.

Meeting participants from around the world

Besides the workshops and presentations, there were events to deepen connections among participants. The Ice Breaker and the Gala Dinner are a kind of social gathering, but they felt like parties: people ate, drank, talked, and danced, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Ice Breaker

On the evening of the first day of the Main Conference, everyone moved to Hiroshima Gate Park (the site of the former Hiroshima Municipal Stadium) for the Ice Breaker. The Ice Breaker is an event for participants to enjoy mingling. Over okonomiyaki and local sake, participants could get to know people from Japan and abroad.

The highlight of this Ice Breaker was the Hiroshima Ondo (a Bon dance). Volunteers from the Hiroshima Folk Song & Dance Association led the way, and everyone circled the plaza around a stage set up specially for the day. The excitement was hard to believe for a first night.

I enjoyed meeting many participants and also experienced what is special about the host city, such as its food and culture.

I kept running into the people I met at the Ice Breaker throughout the conference, and we greeted each other and talked whenever we met at the venue. We attended the closing together and took a commemorative photo at the end. It is wonderful to share time like this with people somewhere in the world who use the same tools and technologies.

Gala Dinner

FOSS4G events in Japan also hold a social gathering after the Core Day, but the Gala Dinner feels like a much larger version of that. The venue was a hotel banquet hall. People took food buffet-style, sat freely at large round tables, and enjoyed meals and conversation.

What I remember most is the performance of Kagura, a traditional performing art, by local high school students. The accompanying music and the dance were powerful, and many people stopped eating and held up cameras to watch. At one point the performers paraded around the hall, and the excitement then was special.

FOSS4Run

At FOSS4G Hiroshima 2026, many WhatsApp chat groups were set up for participants to connect. The topics varied: a group for important announcements, a group where participants from abroad could casually ask how to spend their time in Japan, a group for sharing tasty foods, and more.

I joined several groups. The most fun was “FOSS4Run,” where running fans gather. Every morning, members called out to each other and ran together, enjoying conversation in English.

I felt that connecting every day through a shared hobby is a way of enjoying a conference that only a long one offers. I had dinner until late every night, but exercising while talking with participants from the morning let me start each day well.

Conclusion

This article reported on FOSS4G Hiroshima 2026.

Attending an international FOSS4G conference for the first time, I was reminded that people who use the same tools and technologies are all over the world. It made me want to contribute more to sharing information and development.

The next FOSS4G Global is scheduled to be held in Bristol, UK. Events are also held in various parts of Japan every year. If you want to talk with people who use the same tools, or hear from developers and users, they will surely be inspiring. Consider attending one.

For FOSS4G conferences in Japan, you can check how past events went and what is planned on the official page of the OSGeo Japan Chapter.