Code for Japan
Code for Japan is the Japanese node of the international Code for All network, bringing the civic-tech model — citizens using technology to solve local problems in partnership with government — to Japan. The organisation runs an open community on Slack and Notion where anyone can participate in projects spanning open data, disaster response technology, and digital government transformation.
A landmark project is the co-development of Kakogawa City's Civic Participation Decision-Making Platform, which enables citizens to participate directly in municipal policy decisions through digital tools — one of the more developed examples of government-adopted civic tech in Japan. Code for Japan also runs regular development events, talk events, and a "Civic Tech Fun! Fun! Report!" monthly newsletter (running through July 2026).
Japan's civic-tech scene is less dense than equivalents in Taiwan (g0v, vTaiwan) or Korea, but Code for Japan is the established institutional anchor. The emergence of Team Mirai as a parliamentary party advocating e-democracy creates a potential new pathway for civic-tech infrastructure to connect with formal political power — an unusual configuration globally.
Links
- Website: code4japan.org