Programming Contest

Update

2025.06.29

Entries for Hatsune Miku “Magical Mirai 2026” Programming Contest closed today. Thank you so much for your participation!

Selected entries will be announced on July 25th (Sat.) JST!

2026.06.04

The presentation time at the Hatsune Miku "Magical Mirai 2026" HAMAMATSU and TOKYO venue exhibition stages have been confirmed!

【HAMAMATSU Venue】

"TextAlive Seminar / Programming Contest Selected Entry Presentation"

July 25th (Sat.) 14:30～15:30 JST

Click here for details

*This page is Japanese only.

【TOKYO Venue】

"Programming Contest Winning Entry Presentation / TextAlive Seminar"

Aug. 28th (Fri.) 14:30～15:30 JST

Click here for details

*This page is Japanese only.

Each stage presentation will be live streamed on Crypton Future Media's official YouTube channel "Piapro TV"!

2026.03.27

Hatsune Miku “Magical Mirai 2026” Programming Contest has been announced!
Entries open until noon on June 29th (Mon.) JST!

Summary

Call for submission

Join the creative culture by making an original web application using programming!

• We are looking for "lyric apps," interactive web applications with animated lyrics and other visual effects to accompany the songs of the Magical Mirai Music Contest.
• Please develop a web application using “TextAlive App API” (*scroll down for details)

SAMPLEClick to see the sample videos.

• 

  SAMPLE 01

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  SAMPLE 02

• 

  SAMPLE 03

Past prize-winning entries

2025 / 2024 / 2023 / 10th Anniversary (2022) / 2021 / 2020

What is “TextAlive App API”?

"TextAlive App API" is a JavaScript library for developing web applications to animate lyrics that synchronize with the music playback. It uses features from "TextAlive," a web based creativity support tool for authoring "lyric videos," videos in which lyrics of musical pieces are animated as kinetic typography. It helps developers unleash their creativity through programming; it can be used with your favorite creative coding libraries such as Three.js, PixiJS, p5.js, etc.

*TextAlive and TextAlive App API are researched and developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and are publicly available on the web.

Programming Contest entry support page

Eligibility

Anyone who follows the "How to submit" and “Entry Rules” can enter for free.

See “Entry Rules” here

Submission Period

March 27th, 2026 12:00pm (noon) - June 29th, 2026 12:00pm (noon) JST

The submission period has ended.

Contest Prizes

Grand Prize - 1 winner

prizes

• Receipt of certificate

• Other prizes

  • One virtual singer software developed by Crypton Future Media of your choice
  • Hatsune Miku "Magical Mirai 2026" official merchandise
  • Assorted Piapro Characters merchandise
  • Book: The Future of Creativity - Hatsune Miku's Journey from Hokkaido to the World - (Japanese)

Runner-ups - several winners

prizes

• Receipt of certificate

• Other prizes

  • One virtual singer software developed by Crypton Future Media of your choice
  • Hatsune Miku "Magical Mirai 2026" official merchandise
  • Assorted Piapro Characters merchandise
  • Book: The Future of Creativity - Hatsune Miku's Journey from Hokkaido to the World - (Japanese)

*Grand Prize winner and Runner-up winner prizes may vary in merchandise content.

*“Piapro Characters” is the collective name for “Hatsune Miku”, “Kagamine Rin”, “Kagamine Len”, “Megurine Luka”, “MEIKO” and “KAITO”.

Judging Criteria

Organizer will judge the selected entries from the following three perspectives.

Aesthetic quality of the lyric-driven performance:

Whether the animation of the web application looks attractive in sync with the music

Innovative use of technologies:

Whether the ideas behind the web application are unique and foreshadow the creative culture of the future

Technical completeness and compatibility:

Whether the web application runs successfully in common web browsers (on a PC, tablet device, smartphone, or other environment similar to the contestants' intended environment) and whether the implementation is of high technical quality

Judging Process

1. After the submission deadline, the organizer will select the selected entries through reviewing.
2. Selected entries will be shown at the Magical Mirai 2026 official website, and will be put to a public vote via the MIKUNAVI smartphone app.
3. The votes will be taken into account to determine the prize-winning entries.
4. Prize-winning entries will be announced at the Magical Mirai 2026 Tokyo venue.

Hatsune Miku "Magical Mirai 2026" Programming Contest

Entry Rules

The entrant to this contest (hereinafter referred to as the "Entrant") must agree to all the terms and conditions set forth below before entering the contest.

• This contest is sponsored by Crypton Future Media, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the "Sponsor"), with technology provided by the RecMus Project of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
• In this contest, "selected" or "selection" refer to having passed the preliminary screening by a panel of judges selected by the Sponsor, and "prize" means a prize determined through public voting for the selected entries and evaluation by a panel of judges.
• There are no prerequisites for entering the contest. Entries may be submitted regardless of whether or not programming is the object of your profession or research. However, if the Entrant is a minor, he or she must obtain the consent of a parent or legal guardian to enter the contest and to abide by the "Rules of Entry" before submitting his or her entry.
• If produced in collaboration by multiple people as a team, please submit a team name.
• The program that the Entrant submits to this contest (hereinafter referred to as the "Program") must be an original work. It is allowed to submit a modified version of a program designed or developed previously, but in such case, the Entrant must confirm that the act of submitting the modified Program does not violate the "Rules for Entry" and does not cause any infringement of rights or other problems or obstacles, and then submit the modified program to the contest. The Entrant must ensure that no damage, loss, liability or expense (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Damages") will be incurred by the Sponsor. The submission of a program produced as part of a company's business is not permitted.
• The source code of the program is considered as part of the submission and will be fully reviewed. Please submit your program without any machine processing that would make the source code difficult to read, and make the source code content as clear as possible. It is recommended to include explanations of the program structure to aid the review process.
• As a general rule, the Program must be conceived and developed independently by the Entrant, and the Entrant must own all copyrights, patent rights, and other intellectual property rights (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Intellectual Property Rights").
• The use of generative AI in generating codes, code completion, fixing bugs/errors, refactoring, and assisting the code formation is allowed. However, the use of generative AI for the music, images/illustrations, text that are shown as the output of the program is strictly prohibited.
• In the event that a third party's intellectual property is used in the Program, the Entrant agrees to provide the Sponsor with the appropriate Intellectual Property Rights in advance in order to prevent any problems or hindrances to the entry in this contest. You warrant that you have taken all necessary steps to ensure that your entry has been handled properly. In the event that a third party files an objection to the Program on the grounds of infringement or threatened infringement of Intellectual Property Rights held by such third party, the Entrant shall respond to such objection at its own expense and responsibility and shall not cause any damage or any other inconvenience to the Sponsor. In addition, if the Sponsor suffers any damages or other loss due to the responsibility of the Entrant, the Entrant shall be liable for compensation to the Company, the Sponsor, and others.
• The Sponsor will check the contents of the submitted Program in advance before releasing it to the public. In principle, the Entrant shall not be held responsible for any malfunctions that may occur as a result of the Sponsor's use of the submitted Program. However, this shall not apply if the Program is submitted with a dishonest purpose, such as an attempt to cause damage to the Sponsor or damage the social reputation of the Sponsor.
• Personal information submitted to the Sponsor upon entry will be acquired and managed by the Sponsor and will be used solely for the purpose of contacting the Entrant regarding the contest, except for personal information submitted by the Entrant in the name of the creator of the Program or that which the Entrant has publicized or indicated an intention to publicize for other purposes. Except as otherwise required by law, personal information will not be provided to any third party without the consent of the Entrant.
• Intellectual property rights and other rights to the Program will continue to belong to the Entrant after entry to the contest. However, in the event that the Entrant's Program wins a prize in the contest, the Entrant agrees to grant the Sponsor the right to freely use (including adapt or alter) the prize-winning Program without limitation for a certain period of time, or to grant permission to a third party to use (including adapt or alter) it without limitation. In addition, the Entrant shall not exercise any intellectual property rights or other rights with respect to the use of the Program by the Sponsor or any third party designated by the Sponsor.
• The Sponsor may use the Program, along with the name of the Entrant and other information submitted to the contest, in print and electronic media for the purpose of publicity, advertising, and notification by the Sponsor or a third party designated by the Sponsor in Japan and abroad.
• If selected, the Program will be shown at the "Magical Mirai 2026" venue, on the official website, and on SNS such as YouTube and X (Twitter). What will be made public are demo videos created under the auspices of the Sponsor and web applications that anyone can try out. Entrants may not refuse to do so. Furthermore, they will also be included on websites that the Sponsor has approved of (including TextAlive.)
• The contestant may announce that they are participating in this contest via their own websites or social media. However, during the submission period, it is prohibited to tease the contents of the program or post demo videos, explanations, etc. After the submission period, the contestant may publish the program, its source code (including images and other assets), demo videos, explanation videos, articles, etc. When doing so, please make sure that the program is clearly stated as a work produced tor <Hatsune Miku "Magical Mirai 2026" Programming Contest>.
• Between the end of the program submission period and the announcement of the prize-winning entries, the contestant may not update the program, its source code, or any accompanying assets. For the contents the contestant may publish after the submission period as described in the previous term, the contestant must use the same version of the program that was submitted at the point that the program submission period ended, so that the entry will not be misinterpreted as being different during public voting. Those found in violation will be disqualified.
• The contestant must not misrepresent the program as if it were conceived, developed, or otherwise involved by the Sponsor.
• The "Rules of Entry" are subject to change at any time. A history of such changes will be included in the revised Rules of Entry. Entrants who have submitted the Program before the changes will be presumed to have continued to agree to the revised Rules of Application as long as they continue to apply to the contest.

Adopted March 27th, 2026

Questions about this contest project should be addressed to

How to submit

Submission Format

Web application source code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.)

• Only static applications that can run simply by placing them on an HTTP server are accepted. (server applications that return dynamic responses using PHP, Ruby, Node.js, etc. are not acceptable)
• Since the source code is also reviewed in this contest, obfuscation or any other treatment that interferes with program comprehension should be avoided. Scripts for building source code (using common build tools such as Webpack, Parcel, Vite, etc.) may be included.
• We will be reviewing web applications by building them from source code and running them on a PC web browser, tablet device, smartphone or other browsing environment similar to the contestants' intended environment, but contestants are welcome to submit a URL of their own hosted websites and demo videos as reference information.

Where to enter

GitHub

• Create a private repository in your GitHub account, save the source code of the program you wish to submit in that repository, and share it with the magicalmirai-procon GitHub account for this contest.
• Please submit the URL of the private repository in the submission form to complete your entry.

• The repository must be a private repository during the judging process and can be made public only after the judging is completed.

  (For more details, please refer to the Entry Rules.)

TIPS

TextAlive App API Tutorial

TextAlive App API developer, Jun Kato from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is introducing how to create a lyric app as well as how to enter the programming contest.
This video is available on Crypton Future Media's official YouTube channel "Piapro TV".

Programming Contest entry support page

* The video is in Japanese, but the TextAlive App API support page for the contest is available in English.

* The video was produced in 2024. The Submission Period and Entry Rules are updated annually, so be sure to check this year's summary.

The submission period has ended.

Designated Songs

FAQ

Can I use images of Hatsune Miku and other characters in my work?

For so-called derivative works, only "Piapro Characters" may appear.
You can use any image, but please be sure to use either:

• Images you created by yourself
• Images for the usage of which you have asked and received permission

You must assure the organizer that there are no rights issues.

If you use an image for which you have received usage permission, please include the name of the artist of the image in the app in a clear and appropriate manner.

The use of artworks, event logos, and other assets that are published on the official "Magical Mirai 2026" website and social media accounts is not allowed. If the music videos for the designated songs have been publicized, you may use the thumbnail images of the respective music videos.

Can I use sound effects other than the designated songs in my entry?

Sound effects are allowed, but the following points must be observed.

• You must use sound effects that you have produced yourself or for which you have obtained permission to use, and you must assure the organizer that there are no rights issues.
• Please refrain from using sound effects that give the impression that they are part of the music.

Would it be possible to incorporate AI-generated content into my submission?

As stated in the Entry Rules, the use of AI-generated content for your submission such as for the music, images/illustrations, text that are shown as the output of the program is prohibited. (Usage for translation purposes is permitted.)

However, the use of generative AI assistance is permitted in the development of your program, such as for generating code, code completion, fixing bugs/errors, refactoring, and assisting the code formation.
Implementing features that allow end-users to dynamically generate content using generative AI technologies are also permitted.

Can I commit to the private GitHub repository after the application deadline?

The final commit as of the application deadline will be used during the judging process.
Therefore, posterior commits will not be reflected in the judging process.