This blog post is written by TOKITA Hiroshi(@soburi – discord name).
On May 17, 2026, the Zephyr Project Meetup was held in Kochi, Japan. This was also the first Zephyr Project Meetup in Japan hosted at a university campus, and it had a strong educational and academic focus, with tutorials and research presentations.
Venue
This Meetup was held at Kochi University of Technology.
Picture: The venue, Kochi University of Technology Eikokuji Campus
This building serves as a hub for industry-academia collaboration in the region, as well as a center for regional technological activities.
Picture: Kochi Castle
Kochi University of Technology is located in the heart of Kochi City. This city developed around a fortress built 300 years ago, and the university is situated right next to Kochi Castle.
This castle is one of the best-preserved castles in Japan, a structure that truly evokes the era. This area enjoys a mild climate, and there is an easygoing optimism in Kochi that matched the spirit of the meetup very well.
Picture: A street in Kochi city
Meetup
This meetup was held at a university, so we held a comprehensive Zephyr tutorial in a lecture and exercise format.
Photo: The lecture scene.
Session Highlights
ZephyrRTOS Tutorial feat. nRF54L15-DK by @soburi
We used the nRF54L15-DK board provided by Nordic Semiconductor at the previous Nagoya meetup for the exercises.
Everyone successfully set up their development environments and built and ran the Hello World and Blinky samples.
After completing the Getting Started Guide, and since the nRF54L15-DK used this time supports Bluetooth communication, we also ran a beacon sample, experiencing the first steps of IoT development.
This sample allows participants to use a Bluetooth app like nRF Connect to see if the programmed board is nearby using their own smartphone. Many participants seemed surprised at how easy it is to create IoT devices and how accessible embedded RTOSs are.
Photo: We need to refuel during long lectures.
Introduction to Development Methods for Various Boards Using VSCode @corgeek
@corgeek’s session introduced how to efficiently debug using his Zephyr development support environment, https://github.com/Corgeek/ZephyrOpsPlaybook.
Key features include carefully selected modules to minimize download times for each device and easy debugging with VS Code.
i wanna use 6LoWPAN with Zephyr — and toward Zenoh – @kikuyuta
@kikuyuta, the host of this event, shared his motivations for starting to use Zephyr.
@kikuyuta wants to implement 6LoWPAN for monitoring small-scale hydroelectric power plants. He said he started because he heard that Zephyr is a good choice for 6LoWPAN. He has also recently become interested in Zenoh and Elixir, and is particularly interested in Elixir’s embedded implementation, AtomVM, as it is said to be strengthening its Zephyr support.
He then explained that this Meetup came about because, at a previous party, they decided to hold it “during the season when bonito is delicious.”
Proposal for a High-Speed Power-Out Recovery System for Robots and IoT Using Three-Dimensional Stacked LSIs Utilizing Next-Generation Non-Volatile Memory
Akira Urakawa introduced his research. His research lab studies 3D stacking of LSIs.
This implementation technology is expected to enable higher-density memory placement and facilitate rapid state saving and recovery during power outages in applications such as drones. Prior to actual semiconductor fabrication, he is conducting verification using Zephyr and FPGAs.
He is designing an SoC using LiteX (https://github.com/enjoy-digital/litex) and running Zephyr to evaluate performance regarding the time required to save memory data during a power loss.
As a practical insight, it was noted that data conversion scripts used for integration are version-dependent, requiring careful attention.
After-Party & Networking
For people living in Japan, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Kochi, the venue for this event, is bonito. This Meetup was planned to coincide with the season when bonito is said to be at its best. In this area, bonito is caught in abundance in spring and autumn, and is called “hatsu-gatsuo” (first bonito) and “modori-gatsuo” (returning bonito), respectively.
Of course, for networking purposes, we gathered at a restaurant to enjoy this delicacy.
Photo: The after-party at “Ichiba-sushi”.
Photo: It seems someone dropped a “glass slipper” on the way to the party.
Picture: Seared Bonito
The fish is filleted into five pieces, wrapped in rice straw, and lightly seared. It is then thinly sliced and served.
During the networking session, many people welcomed this Meetup and expressed hopes for similar events in other areas. The most reliable response to this was, “Let’s do it somewhere with good food.”
Welcome to Kochi!
Up until now, meetups in Japan have been held in business districts with many companies, but this time, Kochi is a place that is also suitable for sightseeing.
Many of the participants seemed to have scheduled sightseeing for the weekend afterward.
Let me introduce a little bit about this place, which is blessed with nature and delicious food.
Photo: The bonito special shop near the fishing port
Photo: The scenery of Kochi’s coastline, where mountains and the sea are close together.
Photo: Katsurahama is a coastline facing the Pacific Ocean and is also a famous spot for moon viewing.
Thanks to:
This event, too, is made possible by the dedication and passion of many people.
- Nordic Semiconductor (Thanks for providing excellent development boards!!)
- Kochi Embedded Meeting (Thanks for preparing and operating this Meetup!)
Upcoming Meetups
The momentum of the Zephyr community in Japan continues to build! We are excited to announce our next two meetups. Whether you are a long-time contributor or just starting your Zephyr journey, we would love to have you join us:
- Zephyr Project Meetup – Sapporo, Japan
- Date: June 26, 2026
- Details & Registration: https://zephyr-rtos.connpass.com/event/386410/
We look forward to seeing the community expand across Japan!