I didn’t find my first AI hackathon by searching for one.
A friend sent me a link and said, basically,
“There’s something like this. You might want to check it out.”
At that point, I barely even knew what a hackathon was.
But I joined anyway.
And I had such a good time that I came away thinking:
“Wait… there are more events like this?”
It was a completely new world for me.
I’m not an engineer, and I had only recently started using AI, so I definitely wasn’t someone who already knew the hackathon scene.
But after that first experience, I wanted to try another one.
And that was when a new question appeared:
How do people actually find hackathons in Japan?
Do they search on Google?
Do they use some special event platform?
Do they hear about them from friends?
After joining several hackathons, I realized something:
There isn’t just one place.
Hackathon information in Japan is scattered across different platforms, community pages, social media and private groups.
So if you only check one website, you can easily miss something.
Here are the places I now look at when I want to find AI hackathons and hands-on AI events in Japan.
connpass
connpass is one of the places I check for tech events in Japan.
You can find things like:
- AI hackathons
- programming events
- AI agent events
- developer meetups
- hands-on workshops
- online events
- events in Tokyo, Osaka and other parts of Japan
My first AI hackathon was listed on connpass.
But again, I didn’t discover it there myself.
Someone sent me the link.
That’s actually part of why I later started wondering how everyone else was finding these events.
If you can read Japanese, or don’t mind using browser translation, connpass is definitely worth checking.
One thing to remember:
Not every event there is aimed at beginners.
Some events are casual, while others are quite technical or competitive.
So always check the event details before applying.
Luma
Luma is another place I now check.
My second hackathon was listed there.
I often see AI builder events, startup events, workshops, networking events and international tech communities using Luma.
You may find:
- AI hackathons
- Build events
- startup events
- hands-on workshops
- bilingual events
- English-language events
- networking events
For people visiting Japan, Luma can be especially interesting because some events are easy to join even if you are only in Tokyo for a short time.
Meetup
Meetup is also useful, especially if you’re looking for international or English-speaking communities.
There are groups around AI, machine learning, coding, creative AI and other tech topics.
Some communities run events regularly, so once you find a group you like, you don’t have to start from zero every time.
This can be useful for people living in Japan, but also for travelers.
At an AI Film Hackathon in Tokyo, one of my teammates was from France.
At first, I assumed he lived in Japan.
He didn’t.
He was traveling around Asia for about two or three weeks and was only staying in Tokyo for a short time.
Somehow, he had found the hackathon and joined.
And his AI level was actually pretty close to mine.
We even laughed because we were both using relatively basic paid plans for ChatGPT and Claude Code.
I forgot to ask him where he found the event.
I really wish I had asked!
But that experience made me realize:
People really do look for AI and tech events while traveling in Japan.
TECH PLAY
TECH PLAY is another Japanese platform where tech-related events are listed.
You may find events related to:
- AI
- software development
- startups
- engineering
- business technology
- hackathons
Some events may also appear on other platforms, but not everything is listed everywhere.
That’s the problem.
The information is scattered.
This one was interesting to me.
I’m currently participating in an online Vietnam–Japan AI Hackathon.
I asked one of my teammates how he originally found the event.
This year was his second time participating, so he already knew the event existed.
But the first time?
He told me he found it through Facebook.
So yes, Facebook still matters.
Depending on the community, event information may appear on:
- X
- Discord
- community groups
- organizer pages
Sometimes the event platform itself isn’t where people first discover the event.
Discord and community groups
Once you start joining hackathons, something else happens.
You start getting connected to communities.
Some hackathons have their own Discord servers.
Some AI communities use Discord to announce upcoming events, recruit teammates, share projects or post new opportunities.
And once you are inside those communities, finding the next event becomes much easier.
This is probably one reason some people seem to know about every hackathon before everyone else does.
They’re already inside the network.
Ask AI
This is actually what I do a lot now.
After my first hackathon, I wanted to find more events, but I didn’t really know where to look.
So I started asking ChatGPT to help me find hackathons that might fit me.
Things like:
- AI hackathons in Japan
- beginner-friendly AI hackathons
- English-friendly AI events in Japan
- AI hackathons that allow solo participants
- online international AI hackathons
- AI events in Tokyo
- AI events in Osaka
This saves me a lot of time.
But I always check the official event page before applying.
Dates change.
Application deadlines change.
Team rules change.
Language information can be unclear.
So AI is useful for discovery, but the official source still matters.
One problem: language information is often unclear
This is something I really wish more event pages explained clearly.
An event page might say:
“International”
or
“English-friendly”
or
“Japanese and English welcome.”
But that still doesn’t necessarily tell you:
- What language will the MC use?
- What language will the main instructions be in?
- What language should teams use?
- What language should the final presentation be in?
- What language will the Q&A be in?
I learned this from experience.
At my second hackathon, I arrived and realized the event was being run in English.
I could handle it, but I was still surprised.
It had not been completely obvious to me beforehand.
So on this site, I want to separate things like:
Participation language
Event language
Presentation language
Team language
Q&A language
If the official page doesn’t explain something clearly, I may contact the organizer directly when possible.
Because if you’re deciding whether to join an event, that information actually matters.
So where should you start?
If you’re looking for an AI hackathon in Japan, I’d start by checking:
connpass for Japanese tech communities and events.
Luma for AI builder, startup and international events.
Meetup for international and English-speaking communities.
TECH PLAY for more Japanese tech events.
Then check Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Discord and individual community pages.
And yes, asking AI can save you a lot of searching too.
The frustrating part is that the information is scattered everywhere.
But that’s also one of the reasons I started this site.
I want to make this easier
When I joined my first hackathon, I didn’t even know how people found events like this.
I only went because someone sent me a link.
Then I joined.
I had a great time.
And suddenly I wanted to know:
“Okay, where’s the next one?”
Since then, I’ve heard the same question more than once:
“Where do you find hackathons?”
So I’m going to collect upcoming AI hackathons, Build events and hands-on AI workshops in Japan here.
I also want to include information that is often missing from official event pages, especially things like:
- language
- solo participation
- team formation
- beginner accessibility
- presentation format
And when I actually attend an event, I want to share what it was really like.
Not just the official description.
The atmosphere.
The people.
The level.
What surprised me.
What was difficult.
What was fun.
Because I’m not an AI engineer.
I started from:
“What is a hackathon?”
So if you’re looking at one of these events and thinking,
“Can I really join this?”
you’re exactly the kind of person I want this site to help.