Maker Faire Kyoto 2023: Sugoii!

A decade. That’s how long I had been waiting for to attend a Maker Faire. I didn’t know I’d be attending Maker Faire Kyoto 2023 as my first one though.

Am not even exaggerating. Look here.

A screenshot of the oldest email I have from Makezine, which is from 2023. — The oldest email from Makezine I found in my inbox – assuming that’s when I got to know about them for the first time.

I am not sure what this email list was for; but if I were to assume, it was probably a mailing list for Maker Faire related updates that I signed up for. Little did 11 years old Shayon know, he would be following the activities of Maker Faires across the world for the next few years before he could get to attend one himself.

Holding the Maker Faire Kyoto 2023 ticket in hand.

Well, let’s get started.

Photo dump of Maker Faire Kyoto 2023: Sugoii!

When we (two classmates and me) got off the bus at Keihanna Open Innovation Center, we were greeted with this microscopic motorcycle. But guess what, it was fully functional despite the smol size!

Maker wearing a Wolf-mask (left) explaining how to ride the motorcycle to my classmate wearing helmet (right), the tiny motorcycle is in between. Picture taken at the parking lot in front of Maker Faire Kyoto 2023.

The maker, wearing a very cool Wolf mask, explained to my classmate how to ride the mighty Mottomo Compact briefly. Shortly he went off, blazing through the parking lot riding a bike literally 1/5th of his size. Fun fact, the bike was even road legal with a full-sized license plate! (which was almost as big as the wheels)

After getting our tickets, we entered the Maker Faire. The first area was mainly aimed at kids but showcasing some very cool projects nonetheless.

A Maker wearing a Parrot-shaped mask at Maker Faire Kyoto 2023.

A picture of the crowd of Maker Faire Kyoto 2023.

Some kind of botany-related project at a Maker stall at Maker Faire Kyoto 2023.

A suitcase full of DIY electronics at Maker Faire Kyoto 2023.

There was a stall named Chikimono. They basically make kimonos for chickens and I think that is a wonderful thing. がんばってください、Chikimono-kun!

The stall of Chimono, where a chicken wearing Kimono is roaming inside a cage.

Look at this part-wooden-part-metal car made by Rihito Industry. Equipped with a 4-stroke engine, it made a pretty sweet, deep sound when the Maker took it for a spin in the parking lot!

The 3D Printer stalls were pretty cool. Prusa MK4 – 🫡 (but I couldn’t take any pictures sorry).

A representative of Kingroon explaining 3D printing stuff to a kid

Can a Maker Faire be complete without one of these giant, bizarre projects?

Giant Gundam bot at Maker Faire Kyoto 2023.

But my personal favorite was definitely the audio stalls. They really had some crazy stuff going on with the guitar amps, home-brew synthesizers and music instruments. I kid you not, they were even using a barcode scanner, an old CRT monitor and a pedestal fan to control the synths! Damn, they really make me want to add one more musical project to my portfolio…

One of the audio stalls at Maker Faire Kyoto 2023, with synthesizers and mixers lying on the table.

So how was it overall?

It was really fascinating to see all these cool projects and the enthusiasm of the makers behind them at Maker Faire Kyoto 2023. Since my Japanese is subpar at best, I didn’t expect to be able to interact much with the makers. But to my surprise, most of them spoke fluent English and answered all my questions happily! やった！

I cannot wait for the next one already. The experience has got me feeling so energetic, I have all kinds of ideas buzzing in my head right now haha.

Next year, I want to participate not only as a visitor, but as a maker as well. Let’s see.