Fiscal Year 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of W3C in Japan. As part of these commemorative activities, W3C Japan held an event for W3C members in May and an exhibition for the general public in June. As the culmination of these efforts, on September 4, we hosted “Web Together,” an event for W3C members and the web developer community in Japan.
The meetup was so well-attended—with more applications than expected—that the initial capacity of 100 participants was expanded to 160. To allow registered participants to attend at their convenience, this meetup was held from 7:00 p.m. for two hours and consisted of four lightning talks and one panel discussion.
Lightning Talks
- Web: A 30-year perspective (Sakura Adachi)
- What XTML left behind (Yosuke Furukawa)
- Web and health data (Yuku Kotani)
- Web Sustainability Guidelines (Kazuhito Kidachi)
Sakura Adachi shared the insight that the web is evolving faster than expected, that compatibility is a reality, and that the future of the web is a topic of discussion among everyone.
Yosuke Furukawa noted that while the transition to XHTML —which aimed to resolve ambiguities stemming from SGML— had failed due to a lack of compatibility, lessons learned from that experience led to the transition to HTML5, which maintained backward compatibility, thereby underscoring the importance of not freezing markup conventions and specifications.
Yuku Kotani spoke about privacy-first data exchange following FHIR and semantics that extend beyond hospital systems.
Finally, Kazuhito Kidachi delivered a powerful message focused on the future of humanity and the planet, centered on the W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines.
Jxck, Satoko Takita, Jun Murai, Takeshi Natsuno
Panel Discussion: Looking back on 30 years of the web
Panelists: Jun Murai, Takeshi Natsuno, Satoko Takita, Jxck (moderator)
Themes:
- The moment I realized the web had crossed the chasm
- The moment I thought, “I’m glad the web exists”
- The moment I thought, “The web might be in trouble If things keep going this way”
- What I think the web is still missing
In response to the four questions posed by the panel moderator Jxck (read Jxck’s recap), it was first noted that the web’s true value lies in the fact that it became a common application platform—one that allows users to access distributed resources (URIs) without the need for individual protocols—through the integration of TCP/IP and its widespread adoption into everyday life, marking the moment it crossed the chasm. Meanwhile, amid lively debate, participants expressed strong concerns about browser oligopoly while also emphasizing the need to integrate web technology beyond the screen into the physical web.
Audience of the panel discussion
W3C Japan would like to express its gratitude to the organizing committee members who helped build this event from the ground up, to Cybozu, Inc. for generously providing the venue, and to everyone who participated. We look forward to continuing to evolve the web together.