GaijinPot, Japan’s number one website for foreigners working, studying and living in Japan, successfully hosted the second in a series of free networking parties to bring together Tokyo-area foreigners for a fun night out. Dubbed “GaijinPot Meet 2,” the evening was a huge success, following the first GaijinPot Meet held in January.
GaijinPot Meet 2 was held on April 6th at Ginza 300 Bar Next in Yurakucho, Tokyo. Over 40 attendees mingled and made new friends over drinks and warm conversation in a casual, welcoming space.
GaijinPot is owned by GPlusMedia Inc., which produces Japan’s most used English-language news and information sites, including JapanToday, Savvy Tokyo and Real Estate Japan, in addition to GaijinPot.
Event highlights
The evening’s guests hailed from a wide variety of countries, even surpassing the varied representation of nationalities at the first GaijinPot Meet event. People from India, Nepal, Turkey, Scotland, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, and the United States, among others, were in attendance.
Spontaneous language tables also formed, adding to the international vibe. English was the main language of the evening, but Spanish, French and Italian speakers formed groups and exchanged stories about their life in Japan and welcomed anyone who wished to join and practice with native speakers.
Another interesting result of last fall’s border reopening was that people visiting Japan as tourists also joined in and were able to gather information about how to come live in Japan, from people who already successfully made the move.
We were also happy to welcome people who didn’t know GaijinPot Meet 2 was being held that night at Ginza 300 Bar Next but who saw the event and got to know GaijinPot for the first time.
Business opportunities
Clients of GPlusMedia Inc. also attended the party and had the opportunity to chat with our staff and users and to build new business opportunities.
Our marketing department also invited social media content creators to join the evening. As a result, the event is getting more coverage online and we’re expecting more traction in the future, as well as more content creators joining us for upcoming events.
Great feedback
As with the initial GaijinPot Meet, we received terrific feedback from our guests.
In the post-event survey, attendees indicated that the two main reasons people joined the evening was (1) to meet GaijinPot staff and (2) to meet other foreigners, suggesting that awareness of the GaijinPot brand is very strong and that the brand continues to be appealing to foreigners living in or visiting Japan.
One hundred percent of attendees indicated intent to join next time, with people saying that they would like to see live performances and to have guest speakers on various topics, such as visa issues and real estate. Attendees also wanted to have us host board game nights and to branch out into other venues.
Our staff also had a great evening and really enjoyed the chance to meet and talk with our users in person!
Upcoming events
GPlusMedia plans to hold more GaijinPot Meet events in Tokyo this year, with the aim of bringing our users together and building a strong and inclusive community of foreigners, bilinguals and globally-minded Japanese. The next GaijinPot Meet is scheduled for mid-May.
On a related note, we are also pleased to mention that GPlusMedia will be hosting GaijinPot Expo 2023 on December 2 this year. GaijinPot Expo 2023 will be one of the year’s largest exhibitions for foreign residents living in Japan. For exhibitor information, please visit the GaijinPot Expo 2023 exhibitor page.
In the meantime, if you are interested in learning how your company can co-host or sponsor a future GaijinPot Meet event or how GPlusMedia can help your company reach GaijinPot users, please contact us using the form below!