Crowdfunding for Nape Pro has a date set｜Beginning November 20, 2025 at 9:00 p.m.

On November 18, 2025, Gizmode Japan updated its official X to announce that crowdfunding for the Nape Pro, a compact tracking device co-developed by Keychron and the media company, will begin on Thursday, November 20 at 9 p.m.

Nape Pro, co-developed by Keychron and Gizmode, starts crafanning on Nov. 20! #BuyPRhttps://t.co/dOLMtCLsGs@KOPEK_JP

– Gizmodo Japan (Official) (@gizmodojapan) November 18, 2025

The crowdfunding site is an in-house service.

Support will be accepted through CoSTORY, a commerce platform operated by Mediagene Corporation, the parent company of GIZUMODO.

It will also be deployed as the first product of GIZMART, a new service originating from Gizmodo.

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What is Nape Pro? – A “small trackball” for keyboard lovers

Nape Pro is a small trackball device jointly planned and developed by Keychron and the Gizmode Japan editorial department.

The project was originally based on “Nape,” which was personally developed by Gizmode editor Tsunafuji, and was brushed up to a commercial version in a team effort with Keychron, with developer Kimiichiro Amito from the company.

It is an ultra-compact pointing device designed to be placed alongside the keyboard, and its main feature is that it can be placed anywhere around the keyboard.

Nape Pro Features

• Compact trackball with 25 mm sphere
• Balls will be available in four colors (blue, black, silver, and orange)
• Six-key configuration with expanded key layout of the original Nape
• Keys are microswitched
• Body made of resin
• Available in black and white
• A “jog dial” like wheel is mounted on the periphery of the trackball for scrolling and zooming operations.
• ZMK Firmware is used for firmware, and in combination with Keychron’s own web application “Keychron Launcher”, the functions of each key can be flexibly customized.
• Supports placement in 8 directions

It is almost like a keyboard itself.

It is truly designed to be a trackball for keyboard fans.

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First GIZMART project to be crowdfunded by CoSTORY

This crowdfunding campaign is the first product of GIZMART, a new media-linked commerce service to be launched by Gizmodo Japan.

Support will be accepted as a project on the “CoSTORY” crafan platform.

At the time of publication, only the following information was available on Gizmode Japan’s YouTube channel, and the price and other details will be revealed when crowdfunding begins.

On the day of the sale, Gizmodo Japan plans to broadcast a real-time stream on its official YouTube channel, where you can actually see Mr. Amito making the purchase.

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Looking forward to future impact on the keyboard scene.

This has been our report on crowdfunding information for Nape Pro.

As for the Nape Pro, we believe that this product was born from the idea of the Japanese homebrew keyboard scene.

The Japanese self-made keyboard scene is characterized by “ultra-compact design,” which is rare in the world, and many of its design philosophies give the impression that the aesthetic of many of them is “not moving the hand from the home position.

In fact, the keyboard that the author uses on a daily basis has only 36 keyswitches.

Furthermore, in order to avoid moving the hand as much as possible, even for mouse operation, a boom in keyboards with a trackball positioned at the right thumb position has arrived mainly in the home-built keyboard area.

However, these devices are generally considered to be in the “special” category, and the “switching cost” from a regular keyboard is extremely high.

However, as for the Nape Pro, I feel that it is innovative in that such a “trackball that can be used while keeping the home position” concept can be realized on any keyboard by making it on a small stick.

As shown in the photo at the beginning of this article, if you place it on the front side of a regular keyboard, you can operate the keyboard and mouse on any keyboard with minimal hand movement.

Let’s look forward to the sales in CoSTORY together.

English Summary

On November 18, 2025, Gizmodo Japan announced via its official X account that the crowdfunding campaign for “Nape Pro,” a compact trackball device co-developed with Keychron, will start on Thursday, November 20 at 9:00 PM (JST) on the CoSTORY platform, operated by Media Gene . The project will also launch as the first product under Gizmodo’s new media-linked commerce brand “GIZMART.”

Nape Pro is a small 25 mm trackball designed to sit next to your keyboard so you can keep your hands near home row. It’s based on editor Koichiro Amito’s original “Nape” device and has been refined into a retail product with Keychron.

• 25 mm ball in four colors (blue, black, silver, orange)
• 6 keys using micro-switches (expanded layout from the original Nape)
• Black and white plastic housings
• A ring-style wheel around the ball for scrolling and zoom
• ZMK-based firmware with customization via Keychron’s web app “Keychron Launcher”
• Support for eight different orientations

The campaign will offer several reward tiers, including single-unit plans (white/blue or black/black), body + extra ball plans, and a ” complete” plan that includes both colorways and all ball colors.

The article frames Nape Pro as a product born from Japan’s ultra-compact custom keyboard scene, where minimizing hand movement and integrating pointing devices into the typing area are key design philosophies. By externalizing that concept into a tiny, freestanding trackball, Nape Pro aims to bring “keep your hands on home row” ergonomics to any keyboard, not just highly specialized DIY builds. closes by expressing expectations (high hopes) for Nape Pro’s broader impact on the keyboard landscape and encourages readers to look forward to the CoSTORY campaign launch and Gizmodo’s live YouTube coverage.