HHKB's 30g Feather Touch model gets hands-on debut at Tokyo meetup

HHKB’s 30g Feather Touch model did more than fill a booth at Tenkaichi Keyboard Waiwai Meetup Vol. 11. It gave the brand’s first 30g board a live audience in Tokyo, where the real question was not what the anniversary model looked like, but how much lighter Topre changes the way HHKB feels in use.

PFU announced the HHKB Professional HYBRID Type-S (30g) on June 4, and the limited model went to the meetup floor as a 30th-anniversary piece with a clear message: this is HHKB’s lightest keyboard yet, and the first time the brand has offered a 30g specification. The Japanese run is capped at 3,000 units, the price is 39,600 yen including tax, and sales are handled through PFU Direct only. The lineup spans six variants, with English and Japanese layouts in black, white, and snow, while U.S. and China sales are planned for July once preparations are complete.

That lighter spring weight matters because HHKB users have spent years treating 45g as a fixed part of the experience. Greenkeys’ hands-on report from the HHKB booth made the practical case: if someone wants a lighter feel on older boards, the usual route is third-party parts or full customization, which brings warranty risk and the chance of damaging the board. A factory 30g Type-S changes that equation. It offers a softer keypress without asking users to open the case, chase parts, or gamble on a modded build.

The effect is not just about preference, either. PFU says the 30g version was created in response to long-standing user requests for a lighter touch, and frames it as a way to reduce finger fatigue over long typing sessions. That is the real story for HHKB’s core audience: less resistance can mean less strain, but it can also mean more accidental presses and a different rhythm at the board. For a keyboard known for a very specific feel, even a 15g drop in actuation force is not a small adjustment.

The timing gives the model extra weight. HHKB first went on sale in December 1996, and PFU says the line has reached 770,000 units sold worldwide. That history is part of why the Feather Touch model reads as more than a novelty. It arrives as a limited 30th-anniversary edition with a red anniversary Control key and center-printed keycaps, but the hands-on debut in Tokyo suggests the market is reading it as a sign of where HHKB can go next.

Tenkaichi Keyboard Waiwai Meetup Vol. 11 was held June 6 in Minato, Tokyo, at Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower 24F, and it filled all 370 spots. In a room full of keyboard people, HHKB did not need a big campaign to make its point. One lighter board was enough to turn an anniversary release into a live debate about whether 30g is a one-off experiment or the start of HHKB moving beyond the feel it was built on.