Core fans gathered! HHKB User Meetup Vol.9 Report: Fashion x Keyboard is a New Sensation

HHKB Users Meetup Vol. 9 was held on November 27, 2025 at LODGE, Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho.

The theme is “How Will AI Change Programming?” The theme is “How will AI change programming?

Although the theme was a bit stiff, the frank tone of the talk session kept the audience in a friendly atmosphere from start to finish, making it a rich night for keyboard enthusiasts to gather together.

The venue is an open collaboration space at the headquarters of LINE Yahoo!

The provision of this venue was made possible through the arrangement of ZOZO Corporation, a member of the LY Group.

Despite being a weekday evening, tickets for the event, which included refreshments and novelties and had a capacity of 80 people, were fully booked in advance, and many HHKB users attended the high-profile event, which was also streamed on YouTube.

When asked by the moderator, Mr. Koyama, “How many first-time attendees are there?” 15 to 20 people raised their hands, giving the impression that many of the participants were “regulars.

In the first half of the program, the latest topics will be reviewed in “HHKB in 2025: A Look Back and Outlook” by PFU, followed by a special talk session by Kimiya Matsuo, Dr. Naru (GOROman), and Ryo Shimizu, “How will AI change programming styles? will be the main talk event.

In the latter half, a talk entitled “HHKB x FASHION TECH opens the door to creativity” was held on the theme of the collaboration with ZOZO, and it was refreshing to hear a talk about keyboards not only as hardware, but also from the perspective of fashion.

Also on display at the event were the sponsors’ new products, including some that have not yet been announced, as well as the discontinued HHKB Professional HG, which is sure to be coveted by enthusiasts.

Here is an overview of the meetup.

For textual reasons, the #2 talk session is not listed. Please understand.

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HHKB User Meetup Vol.9 Event Summary

Exhibits

A variety of HHKB and related products were on display at the Meetup site.

The Matsuba booth also exhibited an unpublished “ebony” keytop and a machined aluminum keytop, which attracted a great deal of interest.

Kokuyo also exhibited its “ingCloud” working chair, which will go on sale in mid-December, and it was impressive to see how many people were surprised at how comfortable it was.

Other exhibits included keytop custom HHKBs by Far East Gadgets, Bird Electronics, and ZOZO, as well as Kushii’s personal HHKBs (5 units).

#1 Session: HHKB 2025 Year in Review and Outlook

#1 Session: HHKB Year in Review and Outlook for 2025 featured Atsushi Yamaguchi, who will lead the independent “HHKB Department” within PFU Corporation starting October 2025.

Here is a recap of the talk with images.

As of 2025, cumulative shipments of HHKB will exceed 750,000 units, with 82% of sales coming from Japan.

Although this is a rough estimate, compared to the previous year, sales volume is estimated to be approximately 40,000 units, with approximately 32,800 units sold in Japan and 7,200 units sold overseas.

The next presentation showed the change in products sold from the previous year.

In the previous year, HYBRID Type-S was the overwhelming leader with a majority.

HHKB Studio, which attracted a great deal of attention immediately after its release, had the next highest share at 35%.

This year, HYBRID Type-S remains the largest component, accounting for half of the total.

On the other hand, Studio fell slightly from 35% to 28%.

Instead, HYBRID (no mark) grew significantly from 8% to 17%,

Classic also increased its percentage slightly.

As expected, the Type-S remains the mainstay of the market, with the Studio losing momentum and the HYBRID emerging.

The sales trend clearly shows a slight increase for Classic.

Perhaps next year, the growth of Classic Type-S, which has been converted to “Type-S” by focusing its functionality on wired connections, will be significant.

In terms of user trends, the ratio of female users decreased by 1% compared to last year.

The volume zone of those who use the product is from their 30s to 50s.

The actual age composition is as follows

▼ Age Composition Table

age-group	LAST YEAR	THIS YEAR
the teens (10-19)	0.2%	0.3%
one’s twenties	10.5%	13.1%
30s	24.3%	25.5%
40s	24.3%	22.9%
50s	27.4%	26.1%
60s	11.9%	11.1%
70s and over	1.5%	0.9%

• 30s to 50s are the largest volume zone.
• The number of respondents in their 20s increased from 10.5% to 13.1%, indicating growth among young people.
• Slightly decreasing trend in 40s and 50s
• Almost unchanged for those in their 60s and older

As for the reason for the increase in the number of users in their 20s, Yamaguchi said, “I got the impression that they were buying these products because they were recommended by senior engineers.

There was no major change from last year in terms of the layout used, and surprisingly, more than half of the users used Japanese-language layouts.

This year HHKB celebrates its 29th anniversary.

Next year will be the 30th anniversary of the milestone, and I look forward to seeing what updates are in store.

Introduction of Recent Initiatives

Introduction of products sold this year

#3 ZOZO Collaboration Commemorative Talk Session: “HHKB x FASHION TECH Opens the Door to Creativity

As this was the first “fashion collaboration,” a talk session was held with ZOZO’s Mr. Morohoshi and Mr. assu_ as guests.

First, the speakers introduced their favorite machines.

Morohoshi’s HHKB is an English-language version of the Hybrid Type-S Snow.

The key tops are composed of a combination of unengraved and engraved “Color Key Top: Rattan” key tops.

Only WASD is engraved, which is a fashionable specification.

The control key has a special keytop that can only be owned by HHKB evangelists, and the Enter key was replaced with a keytop machined by Senmin, a handmade keycap artist.

Let me lend you a wooden keycap for HHKB, this is how it is made. pic.twitter.com/lfpamfFNot

– Senmin I make wooden keys. (@wood_art_d) September 8, 2025

On the other hand, Mr. assu_ showed an HHKB Hybrid Professional Type-S Snow with English layout model with “Color Key Top: Dandelion”.

The unimprinted part is the part that you have learned. The imprinted part is the part that has not yet been learned. Our goal is to make these bloom in full bloom with the Gamakko,” he said.

What was interesting was the idea of “clothed cognition theory” that ASU_ talked about.

Clothed cognition (enclothed cognition) is apparently a psychological concept that “the clothes we wear unconsciously influence our own cognition, emotions, and behavior.Forbes JAPAN

According to Mr. assu_, the idea of the clothing cognition theory that “changing from house clothes to a suit makes you feel taller and putting on shoes that say you can run faster makes you feel like you can really run faster” is also applicable to keyboards in some ways.

The keyboard is a fashion item that motivates me to work. I want to use my favorite keyboard because it is something that is in my sight.

He also talked about HHKB’s first “fashion collaboration,” which is also the centerpiece of this year’s event.

In particular, the caps and hoodies showed Mr. Morohoshi’s desire to combine HHKB with fashion.

He said that he dared to use “denim material” for the cap because he was inspired by one of HHKB’s design concepts, “a horse saddle = something that can be used for a long time without breaking”, and chose this material so that he could enjoy the color change over time.

This is the first fashion collaboration with HHKB.

Mr. Morohoshi said, “There are things we couldn’t do this time, such as jeans, socks, and gadget pouches. If we have the opportunity, we would love to do it again,” he said.

As for the limited collaboration products, they will be manufactured on a “build-to-order” basis, with orders only being placed by December 5.

If you want one, please check out the link below.

View the HHKB×ZOZO special site ▷▷▷

Summary｜What is the future of HHKB?

This is a report on the HHKB User Meetup Vol. 9.

HHKB will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year since its launch in 1996.

I am very sorry to say this, as I have only been using HHKB for a short time, but the very idea of the “Aleph layout” that Mr. Wada devised at that time and embodied in HHKB has not become obsolete at all.

As a user, I am particularly attracted to the following three features that make HHKB HHKB.

However, while the target OS at that time was “UNIX workstation-centric,” today it is mainly Windows/macOS, and in today’s environment, where GUI-based operations and shortcuts as well as CUI are assumed, there seems to be ample room for updating the layout as well. I think there is plenty of room for layout updates.

In recent years, HHKB has established a technology that allows users to change the keymap at their discretion as a function of HHKB itself, and it is also true that the “60% unique layout” that is the identity of HHKB is now allowing users more freedom.

Through this meetup, I felt that it would be good to keep the current HHKB as “Wada-style Classic line” and introduce “HHKB 2.0 = MODERN HHKB,” which is more in tune with the modern age of AI.

I am sure that the context is “HHKB Studio”.

However, the stance on this is somewhat different from Matsumoto’s comments in the PC Watch interview.

HHKB is a keyboard for a niche target of programmers, not for gaming PCs.

Cited from: https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/column/miura/2059909.html

However, given that the structure of programming is becoming “AI writes the programming and humans review the code,” the three speakers on the theme of this year’s meetup, “How will AI change programming? the theme of the meetup was “How will programming change with AI?” Given the fact that the structure is becoming “AI writes the programming and humans do the code reviews,” I feel that the concept of the job of programmer itself may also be changing.

I myself am a so-called “writer” and not a programmer, but I have been using HHKB for three years now and I really like its philosophy and the feel of the keys.

This is just my personal opinion, but I think it would be interesting to have a “modern HHKB for all professionals”.

What kind of changes will HHKB undergo in the future as a “professional tool” for the modern age as it approaches its 30th anniversary? As a user of HHKB, I look forward to the updates in the future.

Lastly, we would like to thank Mr. Hachino and everyone in the HHKB department for inviting us as guests to this event.