The 3-Line Summary
- Japan's national IGF activity in 2020 consisted of two meetings: the IGF 2019 Readout in Roppongi, Tokyo on 28 February, and the online IGF 2019/2020 Meeting on 27 October, co-hosted by JAIPA and JPNIC with MIC support.
- Participants brought home the data-governance and cybersecurity debates of IGF 2019 in Berlin, and previewed key workshops of IGF 2020 (2–17 November), the first fully online IGF.
- With no national meeting yet held under the 'Japan IGF' name, 2020 was the eve of Japan IGF's founding — a year of experimenting with how to build a domestic discussion venue.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF 2019 Readout Meeting & IGF 2019/2020 Meeting (Japan) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.
Conference at a Glance (from official records)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | IGF 2019 Readout Meeting & IGF 2019/2020 Meeting (Japan) |
| Dates | 28 February 2020 (IGF 2019 Readout) / 27 October 2020 (IGF 2019/2020 Meeting) |
| Venue | DMM.com head-office event space, Roppongi Grand Tower, Tokyo (February) / online via Zoom (October) |
| Theme | Regional governance themes |
| Host | Co-hosted by JAIPA and JPNIC, with support from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) |
(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. Reporting Back from IGF 2019 Berlin — Is 'One World, One Net, One Vision' Possible?
Sessions: IGF 2019 Readout Meeting (28 February 2020, 13:30–18:00, Roppongi Grand Tower, Tokyo)
- Planned by an executive committee of IGF 2019 participants, the free readout meeting (capacity 100) reported on IGF 2019 held in Berlin in November 2019 [1][2]
- Two discussion blocks drew on IGF 2019's main themes: data governance (media and content regulation) and 'Security, Safety, Stability and Resilience' (cybersecurity norms) [1][2]
- The programme also explained the IGF's role, introduced the parliamentarians' track, shared first-timers' impressions, and debated how to grow Japan's domestic internet-governance discussion [1][2]
2. Bridging to IGF 2020 — Preparing for the First Fully Online IGF
Sessions: IGF 2019/2020 Meeting (27 October 2020, 15:00–18:00, Zoom)
- Held online (capacity 70) ahead of IGF 2020 (2–17 November 2020, online), the meeting combined a brief look back at IGF 2019 with a preview of the IGF 2020 agenda [3][4]
- Session 1 revisited IGF 2019's data-governance and security topics, and Yoichi Iida of MIC's Global Strategy Bureau reported on the Japanese government's outcomes [3][4]
- In Session 2, representatives of participating organisations each pitched their 'must-see' IGF 2020 workshops, encouraging Japanese participation in the first online IGF [3][4]
3. Building a Domestic Venue — Groping Forward Before 'Japan IGF' Existed
Sessions: A running theme across both meetings
- 'Japan IGF' had been registered with the UN IGF Secretariat as an NRI in November 2016, yet JPNIC materials note that as of 2021 no formal meeting bearing the Japan IGF name had been held — only one or two meetings a year since February 2019 [5][6]
- Executive-committee-run readout and preparatory meetings effectively served as Japan's national IGF function [5][6]
- This lineage led to the May 2021 launch of the 'Team for Vitalizing Japan's National IGF Activities toward IGF 2023' and then to Japan IGF 2022, the first national meeting under the Japan IGF name [5][6]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. Was there a 'Japan IGF' conference in 2020?
A. No. The year's actual events were two readout-style meetings: the IGF 2019 Readout in February and the IGF 2019/2020 Meeting in October. The first national meeting under the Japan IGF name came in 2022.
Q. What did the readout meetings cover?
A. They shared IGF 2019 Berlin's debates on data governance and cybersecurity, and previewed key workshops of IGF 2020 — the first fully online IGF, held that November.
Q. Why does 2020 matter?
A. The pandemic pushed Japan's domestic debate online, and the readout meetings nurtured the question of how to build a standing national IGF — leading to the vitalization team in 2021 and the first Japan IGF in 2022.
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 2020 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.
Sources & References
- IGF2019報告会開催のご案内～ One World, One Net, One Vision は可能か？～ — Japan IGF（日本IGF公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- IGF 2019報告会開催のご案内 — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- IGF2019/2020に関する会合開催のご案内 — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- IGF2019/2020に関する会合のご案内（プログラム更新あり） — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 日本におけるインターネットガバナンス関連活動の経験と課題（2021年5月20日） — JPNIC (accessed 2026-07-11)
- IGF-Japan アーカイブ — 日本インターネットプロバイダー協会（JAIPA） (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 23 September 2020, 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
