Japan – Hitachi Employee Receives the “Chop Wood Carry Water Award” from the Global OSS Organization CNCF for Leading the Establishment of Official Community in Japan

Hitachi Employee Receives the “Chop Wood Carry Water Award” from the Global OSS Organization CNCF for Leading the Establishment of Official Community in Japan

Developing chances for OSS engineers in Japanese business to flourish and add to the development of a digital society fixated AI

TOKYO, Nov 14, 2025 – (JCN Newswire) – Hitachi, Ltd. (“Hitachi”today revealed that Head of Hitachi OSPO (Open Source Program Office)* 1 Yuichi Nakamura has actually gotten the “Chop Wood Carry Water Award” from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)* 2, the world’s biggest company promoting development in cloud native and AI innovations. This award acknowledges members who have actually added to numerous open source software application (OSS) advancement jobs and devoted themselves to stimulating and supporting the neighborhoods behind them. This year, 6 receivers were picked from over 720 companies connected with the CNCF.

This award acknowledges Nakamura’s commitment to developing and running Japan’s very first main neighborhood, Cloud Native Community Japan (CNCJ)* 3, in a manner that goes beyond business borders. He was likewise extremely acknowledged for his efforts in bringing the CNCF international occasion “KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2025” to Japan for the very first time, together with CNCJ members, and effectively co-hosting the FinOps Foundation occasion. These efforts have actually assisted develop chances for OSS engineers in Japanese business to grow and add to the development of a digital society fixated AI.

Hitachi has actually long acknowledged the worth of OSS as vital to the advancement of a digital society and has actually actively promoted its usage in both IT and OT domains. Nakamura has actually driven business application of OSS at Hitachi while likewise feeding back that know-how to several OSS neighborhoods. As a leading figure in Japan’s OSS neighborhood, he has actually attained various achievements. Moving on, Hitachi will continue to deal with clients, partners, and OSS neighborhoods to develop an AI community that attends to social obstacles and adds to the awareness of a sustainable society.

(* 1) News Release “Established the Open Source Program Office (OSPO) to Globally Lead the Strategic Utilization of OSS” (November 8, 2024)
https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2024/11/241108.html
(* 2) A non-profit company under The Linux Foundation that worldwide leads the advancement and adoption of cloud native innovations such as containers and microservices
(* 3) News Release “Participating in the Establishment of Japan’s First Official Community ‘Cloud Native Community Japan’ to Promote Cloud Native Innovation” (December 1, 2023)
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2023/12/1201.html (Japanese just)

Remark from Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of the CNCF

“The Chop Wood Carry Water Award recognizes the essential, behind-the-scenes work that keeps our community strong,” stated Chris Aniszczyk, CTO, CNCF. “Yuichi Nakamura embodies that spirit by dedicating time and care to the often unseen but critical tasks, like improving documentation, and organizing meetups like the Cloud Native Community Japan (CNCJ). His steady commitment ensures that CNCF projects stay healthy, sustainable, and ready for the local community in Japan and also globally.”

Remark from Yuichi Nakamura, Head of Hitachi OSPO

“I am deeply honored and grateful to receive this prestigious award from the CNCF. For over 20 years, I have dedicated myself to the development of the OSS community. As a Board Evangelist for The Linux Foundation (LF) and as the CNCF Governing Board*4, I serve as a bridge between Japan’s domestic OSS community and LF-related organizations, working to advance the OSS ecosystem within business contexts. Additionally, while fostering the growth and success of domestic engineers, I have contributed to enhancing the global value of Keycloak, an OSS project of the CNCF, as an authentication and authorization platform. More recently, I have actively shared insights on access control for AI agents*5 and advocated for establishing best practices. I will continue to contribute to solving global social issues within the OSS community.”

(* 4) News Release “Head of Hitachi OSPO becomes a member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation Governing Board” (February 28, 2025)
https://www.hitachi.com/en/information/20250228/
(* 5) News Release “Launching HARC for AI to Maximize the Benefits of AI Agent Implementation” (October 7, 2025)
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2025/10/1007.html (Japanese just)

Background

Over the last few years, cloud local and AI innovations used in digital change have actually seen fast growth of their abilities within the OSS neighborhood. Especially, the CNCF, with over 720 member companies around the world and engineers worldwide taking part in advancement, contributes considerably to advancing cloud native innovations vital as the structure for AI. As of 2023, Japan did not have a neighborhood bridging the CNCF with regional companiesand companies, and there were couple of cloud native innovations stemming from Japan. Nakamura led the facility of CNCJ, a company that links the international CNCF advancement neighborhood with Japanese business and existing companies. He has actually devoted himself to neighborhood management and outreach activities, such as motivating involvement from engineers at Japanese business.

Nakamura’s Background

Head of OSPO, Ph.D. (Engineering) with Hitachi, Ltd.

• 2001– present: Engaged in OSS security R&D, leading the promo of SELinux * 6 in Japan and contributing substantial code to the neighborhood
• 2015: Recognized for OSS advancement activities connected to SELinux, got the “Kiyasu Memorial Achievement Award” from the Information Processing Society of Japan together with OSS security neighborhood members
• Introduced an API management service using OSS Keycloak and experienced maintainers
• 2022: Appointed as a board member of The Linux Foundation
• 2023: Participated in developing CNCJ, the Japan Chapter of the CNCF
• 2024: Appointed as the inaugural Evangelist for LF Japan
• 2024: Appointed as Head of Hitachi OSPO
• 2025: Appointed as the CNCF Governing Board

(* 6) SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) is an integrated Linux kernel module that allows granular control over users who can gain access to Linux systems.

Hitachi Major OSS Activities

Hitachi has actually added to the promo and growth of OSS in Japan given that the starting of LF in 2000 as a sponsor. We have actually worked to improve the dependability of the Linux kernel and to establish functions in Keycloak that adhere to European and South American requirements for monetary security through neighborhood activities. Our enduring performance history has actually been acknowledged, with Hitachi workers playing active functions in the international neighborhood as CNCF Ambassadors, Tech Lead of the TAG Security and Compliance group * 7, and as maintainers * 8 * 9 for Keycloak and Hyperledger Fabric. The Hitachi Group continues its worldwide adoption efforts. Recently, Hitachi has actually likewise offered advanced insights and competence in AI representative information gain access to control through CNCF-related tasks and domestic/international neighborhoods.

(* 7) Announcement: “Hitachi Employee Appointed as Initial Tech Lead of CNCF TAG Security and Compliance” (August7, 2025)
https://www.hitachi.com/en/information/20250807/
(* 8) Announcement: “Hitachi Employee Appointed as Maintainer for OSS ‘Keycloak’ Development Project” (October 26, 2021)
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/products/it/oss/news/20211026.html (Japanese just)
(* 9) Announcement: “Hitachi Employee Becomes Core Maintainer for Enterprise Blockchain OSS ‘Hyperledger Fabric’ Development Project—First Japanese Company to Do So” (April 18, 2024)
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/products/it/blockchain/topics/20240418.html (Japanese just)

Associated Sites

Hitachi OSS (Open Source Software)
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/products/it/oss/index.html (Japanese just)

Hallmarks

Other company and item names are hallmarks or signed up hallmarks of their particular companies.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that unites IT, OT(Operational Technology) and items, Hitachi adds to a balanced society where the environment, health and wellbeing, and financial development remain in balance. Hitachi runs internationally in 4 sectors – Digital Systems & & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries – and the Strategic SIB Business Unit for brand-new development services. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi creates worth from incorporating information, innovation and domain understanding to fix client and social obstacles. Profits for FY2024(ended March 31, 2025) amounted to 9,783.3 billion yen, with 618 combined subsidiaries and roughly 280,000 workers worldwide. Visit us at www.hitachi.com.