It’s a dream come true being here in Tokyo for State of the Word 2024. We’re going to be in an amazing venue that looks over the city. Most of WordPress and Automattic’s senior leadership is here, and we’ll also have several hundred folks from the local community and press.
We’ve gotten so much inspiration over the years from Japanese culture, we wanted to make this event really “of the space” so we’re doing a few extra things this year. My presentation will include Mary Hubbard and Matías Ventura, but also part of it will be in Japanese and presented by Junko Fukui Nukaga. We’ll have piano performances by Aiko Takei. After the presentation and Q&A we’ll do a panel in Japanese with Mieko Kawakami (one of the top novelists in Japan, on par with Haruki Murakami), Craig Mod, Hajime Ogushi, and Genki Taniguchi.
For those who can attend in person, we’ll have a reception afterward with some unique gifts including posters from a local Kanji artist and nice sweater to keep everyone warm this winter.
If you’d like to livestream at home, you can do so on Youtube here:
It’s very interesting to see the development of WordPress in Japan. I see Japan as a country where blogging is still popular, but I didn’t know that WordPress is also popular there. I also just learned that Wapuu was designed by a Japanese person. I agree that Japanese culture is truly fascinating. I am working towards pursuing a PhD in a Japan university in 2025, and if that happens, perhaps you will host this event in Japan again, and I could witness it in person there.