A brief history of mechanical keyboard community in Japan
This is a translation of 日本キーボード年表.
The tl;dr:
Very early roots in 2016, major growth begins in late 2017/early 2018
Community-driven development centered on the concepts of DIY, self-designed boards, open-source projects
Heavily influenced by the pre-existence of QMK and the Let's Split in the early days, which allowed for split boards and heavy layering from the beginning
Very fast growth (opening of a physical storefront in Akihabara in roughly 1 year since the beginning of heavy growth), but still a small community compared to other international circles
Timelines
2016
The beginning
22 May: First Tokyo Mechanical Keyboard Meetup was held
29 May: Facebook group Japan Mechanical Keyboard Group created
29 Dec: BUILD YOUR OWN KEYBOARDs by Pekaso (ぺかそ) was distributed in COMIC MARKET 91 (C91)
2017
Several DIY keyboard appeared
29 Jan: Tokyo Mechanical Keyboard Meetup Vol. 2 was held at FabCafe MTRL
24 May: Group Buy of Let's Split started
29 Aug: BUILD YOUR OWN KEYBOARDs 2 by Pekaso was distributed in C92
3 Sep: Tokyo Mechanical Keyboard Meetup vol.3 was held at Code Chrysalis
Also with #レツプリ祭り and #ポケステ祭り
9 Sep: Alpha test invitation for Helix. Helix was named at this time
27 Sep: TALP KEYBOARD opened. This was the first online shop specialised for mechanical keyboards in Japan.
20 Nov: Self-Made Keyboards in Japan Discord Server opened
8 Dec: Helix Group Buy started
29 Dec: Several DIY keyboard Dojinshis were distributed at C93 コミックマーケット93
2018
Rapid expansion of the community
25 Feb: The event 自作キーボードもくもく会 is held
5 Apr: Super Early Bird Pre-Order for the Ergo42 begins
6 May: Tokyo Mechanical Keyboard Meetup vol.4 is held at Code Chrysalis
9 May: たのしいたのししま1巻発売
11 May: The Keycappie (キーキャッピー) is sold through Massdrop
4-5 Aug: Maker Faire Tokyo 2018 is held; the Helix Pico, Mint60, and BlocKey are sold for the first time
10 Aug: Fortitude60 keyboard kit goes on sale at コミックマーケット94
25 Aug: Tokyo Mechanical Keyboard Meetup vol.5 is held at Code Chrysalis
1 Sep: Yurukey (ゆるキー vol.1, one of the earliest large-scale domestic keyboard events) is held
8 Oct: Gijutsu Shoten 5 (Tech book fest 5 技術書典5) was held. Multiple keyboard circles exhibited, three of them were neighbouring
14 Oct: Yurukey vol.2 is held
15 Oct: Large-scale domestic event 天下一キーボードわいわい会 Vol.1 (Tenka-Ichi Keyboard Waiwai Kai) is published; 250 spots reserved in ~14 hours
28 Dec: End-of year event 忘年キー (Bounen key) is held
2019
A year of brick-and-mortar store
13 Jan: Physical keyboard storefront Yushakobo（遊舎工房）opened at Suehiro-cho (末広町; near Akihabara)
21 Jan: The roughly-weekly keyboard news channel (ほぼ週刊キーボードニュース) begins broadcasting
23 Mar: Yurukey vol.3 is held
14 Apr: Gijutsu Shoten 6（Tech book fest 6; 技術書典6）
4 May: Large domestic event 天下一キーボードわいわい会 Vol.2 was held.
25 May: Tokyo Mechanical Keyboard Meetup Vol.6
22 Jun: Yurukey vol.4 is held
3-4 Aug: Maker Faire Tokyo 2019 was held.
17 Aug: Yurukey DJ vol.1 is held
15 Sep: Yurukey vol.5 is held
30 Dec: End-of year 忘年キー is held
2020
8 Feb: Keysounds!!! (A disco event related to keyboard)
15-16 Feb: Tsukuba Mini Maker Faire 2020 was held.
21 Jul: DIY keyboards broadcasted on national TV in-depth
3-4 Oct: Maker Faire Tokyo 2020. Several keyboard-related booths.
Not so many hands-on testable units due to COVID-19