Japan Geospatial Times is an open-source blog project that documents the technology, history, use cases, and challenges of geospatial applications in Japan.

The development of geospatial technologies in Japan has been shaped by several factors, including strong demand for disaster risk reduction from hazards such as earthquakes, government-led development of national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI), and citizen-led activities around open geospatial data. However, the historical background and practical experiences behind these developments are not widely shared internationally.

This talk introduces Japan Geospatial Times, an open-source blog project, and explores the characteristics and historical development of geospatial technologies in Japan. Drawing on articles published on the site, the presentation highlights representative use cases and technical challenges, including major GIS services, open data initiatives, satellite positioning systems, and urban digital twins.

Finally, the talk presents Japan Geospatial Times as an open-source knowledge-sharing platform and encourages geospatial communities in other countries to document and share their own geospatial histories and practices.