Why did I become an organizing member? - PyCon JP 2025
I was a PyCon JP 2024 organizing member
I’m nishimotz / 24motz, Chair of PyCon JP 2025.
I wrote about how we came to hold it in Hiroshima, when I started preparing, and such things.
https://note.com/24motz/n/nf7602be7df5b
https://note.com/24motz/n/na3e81ea938f8
When we were trying to decide the PyCon JP 2025 venue, I was an organizing member of PyCon JP 2024.
I knew several people who had participated as organizing members of PyCon JP (held in Tokyo) while living in Hiroshima, so I knew such things were possible. (People not living in the host city can also participate in operations in various ways)
But when recruitment began, it was still right after YAPC::Hiroshima 2024, so I thought “Am I going to run another event’s operations so soon?” and my family must have been exasperated too (and here I am doing 2025 as well)…
https://yapcjapan.org/2024hiroshima/
Still, I got involved because in spring 2024, there was something that concerned me.
What changed in April 2024?
On April 1, 2024, the revised Act on Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities came into effect, making “provision of reasonable accommodation” by businesses a legal obligation.
https://www8.cao.go.jp/shougai/suishin/sabekai_leaflet.html
Until then it was an “effort obligation” meaning “please do it if possible,” but from April 2024, it became a legal obligation. Events like PyCon JP also become subject to this law as “businesses.” In the Act on Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, “businesses” include both for-profit and non-profit entities. Please check with government consultation offices or specialists for details.
Specifically, accommodation for wheelchair users at venues, information support for hearing-impaired people, creative material provision methods for visually impaired people, and other considerations addressing diverse participant needs became required.
But for me, it wasn’t the “beginning”
While many people were confused thinking “What should we do?”, for me this was an event where “legal basis was added to something I had been strongly interested in for a long time.”
I have worked on Japanese localization of the visual impairment support technology NVDA for many years. This was what got me seriously learning Python.
At PyCon JP 2012, we held a co-located event with many participants with visual impairments.
Currently, this law provides exemptions when it would be an “excessive burden.” That is, it doesn’t force financially difficult accommodations on individual business owners or small organizations. That’s exactly why I thought events of PyCon JP’s scale should take the initiative on this issue.
Operations that don’t have the assumption “they won’t come anyway”
There’s a common way of thinking in operations: the assumption that “people with disabilities probably won’t come to this kind of tech event.” But this is wrong. At PyCon US 2025 (Pittsburgh) that I attended recently, I met many participants with disabilities. Visual impairment, hearing impairment, wheelchair users, etc. - various people who normally use Python and are developers or learners participating in the community.
Such participants are not “special beings.” I think what’s being questioned is how we, as members of the Python community, welcome them.
https://note.com/24motz/n/n182577c9d8f0
How was PyCon JP 2024?
At PyCon JP 2024, I became in charge of participant management. This was because I thought this team would be closest to facing participants’ barriers. As a result, no special response situations arose. However, that’s not proof that “participants had no needs.” In reality, there may have been people who had needs but couldn’t speak up.
What I want to realize with the 2025 Hiroshima event
What I’m aiming for isn’t simply responding to legal requirements. It’s creating “an event that’s attractive to more people.” I feel anew that this effort is deeply connected to values that the Python community treasures worldwide.
If tech communities can not just meet legal requirements but truly embrace diversity and create environments where everyone can easily participate, that should embody the ideals of the Python programming language and its community.
Ending with announcements today too
PyCon JP 2025 will be held at Hiroshima International Conference Center on September 26-28, 2025. The last day is development sprints. This is the first time PyCon JP is held outside Tokyo, and we’re currently recruiting speakers (proposals). The deadline is June 29. We use a system called pretalx.
https://note.com/24motz/n/n013f49c33966
Posters and community posters have the same deadline, so please be careful! https://note.com/24motz/n/n7211316e6adf https://note.com/24motz/n/nca6d0465a0ef https://note.com/24motz/n/n86b9498687c0
We’re also recruiting sponsors. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at the inquiry address listed in the materials! https://note.com/24motz/n/n8828bcad687a