The 3-Line Summary
- On 7–8 September 2023, the Japan Internet Governance Forum 2023 met in Kanda, Tokyo and online as the national pre-meeting for IGF 2023 Kyoto, held the following month — the second national meeting under the Japan IGF name.
- Built around the sessions Japan had proposed for Kyoto, it pre-debated children's online safety, global cooperation among cyber-incident responders, the international AI-strategy debate, trusted data flows for developing countries, and video-on-demand regulation.
- One month before the first global IGF ever held in Japan, this was the domestic community's final rehearsal, polishing arguments and speakers for the main event.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Japan Internet Governance Forum 2023 — National Pre-Meeting for IGF 2023 Kyoto draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.
📍 Held in Tokyo (Day 2 online only). The Kyoto event was the global IGF 2023 (8–12 October 2023, Kyoto International Conference Center); this forum was its separate national pre-meeting
Conference at a Glance (from official records)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | Japan Internet Governance Forum 2023 — National Pre-Meeting for IGF 2023 Kyoto |
| Dates | 7–8 September 2023 |
| Venue | Essam Kanda Hall Building 1, Chiyoda, Tokyo + online (Zoom) |
| Theme | Regional governance themes |
| Host | Team for Vitalizing Japan's National IGF Activities toward IGF 2023 |
| Outcome | Introduced and pre-discussed the sessions proposed from Japan for IGF 2023 Kyoto |
(See the source list at the end of this article.)
Discussion Digest — from the Session Records
Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.
1. Final Run-Up to IGF 2023 Kyoto — Rehearsing Japan's Proposed Sessions
Sessions: Across both days (7–8 September)
- The meeting was explicitly framed as the national pre-meeting for IGF 2023 Kyoto, centring on the sessions proposed from Japan for the 18th IGF (8–12 October) [1][4][5]
- IGF 2023 was hosted by the Japanese government through MIC at the Kyoto International Conference Center — making this the biggest host-preparation year in Japan's national IGF history [1][4][5]
- Day 1 ran hybrid at Essam Kanda Hall in Tokyo plus Zoom; Day 2 was online only [1][4][5]
2. Children's Online Safety — Measuring Japan's Child-Abuse-Material Response Against Global Standards
Sessions: Day 1: Online Child Sexual Abuse Material Countermeasures (7 September)
- Toshiaki Tateishi (Internet Content Safety Association / JAIPA) and Yuma Nakai (Japan Committee for UNICEF) examined Japan's response to child sexual abuse material from an international perspective [3][4]
- The session paired the industry side operating blocking schemes with child-rights advocates at the same table — a characteristically multistakeholder Japanese line-up [3][4]
- The theme carried into Kyoto's child-safety discussions and, from 2024, into the debate on generative AI and CSAM [3][4]
3. The International AI-Strategy Debate — Taking Stock in the Year Generative AI Broke Through
Sessions: Day 2: The International Debate over AI Strategy (8 September)
- AI-policy and AI-ethics researchers — Tagui Ichikawa, Arisa Ema, Toshiya Jitsuzumi, Hiroshi Nakagawa and Hiroki Habuka — mapped the international debate over AI strategy [3][2]
- In 2023, the breakout year of generative AI, AI governance was set to headline IGF 2023 Kyoto, and this session served as its domestic rehearsal [3][2]
4. Operational Issues Across Borders — Incident Response, Data Flows and IoT
Sessions: Related sessions on Days 1 and 2
- Masae Toyama (JPCERT/CC) presented the global dialogue among cyber-incident responders and cross-border cooperation in incident handling [3]
- Atsushi Yamanaka (JICA) addressed building trusted data flows that serve development in the Global South, while Hiroshi Esaki (University of Tokyo) shared global success stories in campus/IoT deployment [3]
- All were operations- and development-oriented themes proposed from Japan for IGF 2023 Kyoto, showcasing the technical community's strengths [3]
5. Regulating Video on Demand — Rethinking the Broadcast/Telecom Boundary
Sessions: Day 1: Regulation of Video on Demand (7 September)
- Ichiro Mizukoshi (NTT East), Minami Yoneya (Foundation for MultiMedia Communications) and Toshiya Jitsuzumi (Chuo University) reviewed the regulatory wave reaching video-on-demand services worldwide [3][2]
- At stake was whether the old division — regulated broadcasting versus unregulated transmission — can hold in the streaming era, a question that touches every viewer [3][2]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. Was this meeting held in Kyoto?
A. No — Tokyo (Day 2 online only). Kyoto hosted the global IGF 2023 the following month; this was the national pre-meeting held a month earlier in Tokyo.
Q. What was it for?
A. To preview and sharpen the sessions Japan had proposed for IGF 2023 Kyoto — children's safety, AI strategy, incident response, trusted data flows and VOD regulation.
Q. Why should I care?
A. Streaming regulation, AI rules and children's online safety touch daily life — and the arguments honed here were presented to the world at the first IGF ever held in Japan.
What Is Japan IGF? (for first-time readers)
Japan IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.
Why It Matters to You
What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2023 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.
Sources & References
- 日本インターネットガバナンスフォーラム2023 開催のご案内～IGF 2023京都の国内事前会合～ — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 日本インターネットガバナンスフォーラム2023 開催のご案内（プログラム詳細あり） — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 日本インターネットガバナンスフォーラム2023（プログラム・発表資料） — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 日本インターネットガバナンスフォーラム2023 — Japan IGF（日本IGF公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 「インターネット・ガバナンス・フォーラム（IGF）京都2023」の開催 — 総務省 (accessed 2026-07-11)
Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.
Related links
- IGF official (NRI list): https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives
- Japan IGF: https://japanigf.jp/
- Yuki Nakazawa's blog: https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/
Revision History
Rev. 1 — published 29 May 2023, 14:00 (Article published)
Rev. 2 — updated 16 July 2026, 20:09 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))
— 中澤祐樹
