On July 22, 2026, I spoke at JAWS-UG Ibaraki #15 about how pursuing the Japan AWS Jr. Champions program changed the way I approach software engineering. The talk looked at the work before my selection and the direction I wanted to take afterward.
The full event recording is available below.
About JAWS-UG Ibaraki #15
JAWS-UG is the volunteer-run AWS user community in Japan, with chapters based on regions and technical interests. Ibaraki is one of its regional chapters.
This online event brought together newly selected Japan AWS Jr. Champions and Japan AWS Top Engineers for a series of lightning talks. The speakers covered both the experience of receiving an AWS recognition and the AWS technologies they were currently exploring. For readers outside Japan, both programs recognize engineers at AWS Partner Network companies for technical work and community contribution; Jr. Champions is aimed at people in the first years of their professional careers.
What I shared
Before the selection, my work combined backend development with Amazon ECS, IAM, VPC, Terraform, GitHub Actions, and CloudWatch Logs. I also turned lessons from that work into internal study sessions, public articles, and JAWS-UG presentations.
Preparing for the program shifted my attention from describing what I built to explaining why a design or service was chosen. I framed that as a cycle: implement and operate a system, organize the reasons and results, share them, and bring the feedback into the next design.
My next goal is to keep treating applications and AWS infrastructure as one software system. That includes sharing implementation and operational knowledge inside the company, helping other early-career engineers participate in the community, and continuing toward the Japan AWS Top Engineers program.
View the slides on Speaker Deck. I also wrote a separate note about being named a 2026 Japan AWS Jr. Champion.