On July 13, GaijinPot, Japan’s number one website for foreigners working, studying and living in Japan, held the fifth event in a series of free networking parties for Tokyo-area foreigners at Ginza 300 Bar Next.

About 40 guests and GPlusMedia staff got together for minty-fresh mojitos and a night of making new friends and professional connections.

Guest Demographics

As with previous events, there was a lot of interest in GaijinPot Meet Mojito Night, and the event was fully booked well ahead of the RSVP deadline.

The diversity of attendees also reflected the diversity of the resident foreign community in Tokyo. Guests included people from India, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Scotland, Viet Nam and the United States, among other countries. Japanese were also represented in the crowd.

Most attendees were working people, as opposed to foreign exchange or language school students, which was the case with previous GaijinPot Meets.

Many guests were also new to Tokyo, if not to Japan. For example, one attendee, an Australian by nationality has only been in Tokyo for a few months to start a new job but has lived in Kyoto for many years. He was at Mojito Night to make new friends. Another guest was in Japan on a working holiday visa and had just found a job through GaijinPot Jobs! GPlusMedia staff also spoke to a Brazilian designer and creative who came to meet other Tokyo expats.

There were also many long-term residents of Japan and repeat customers, for whom this was their second or third GaijinPot Meet event.

As with previous events, a common theme was that attendees wanted to connect with other foreign residents, make friends and learn more about GaijinPot’s services. 

Event Highlights

Despite the heat, we were pleased that a capacity crowd turned out for the evening, the highlight of which was undoubtedly the many lively conversations!

The raffle was also a crowd pleaser, with three lucky winners going home with a GaijinPot mug, Gaijinpot t-shirt and an Amazon gift card.

The evening included a short presentation about GPlusMedia’s services. 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.

Networking and business opportunities

Many attendees also came for networking and to look for job opportunities.

We also offer opportunities for our clients to attend GaijinPot Meet events to meet users of GaijinPot and to meet other corporate clients.

If you are interested in attending the next GaijinPot Meet, which will be held at the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya, on August 24th, please visit this page to reserve a space!

Please be aware that attendee numbers are limited and tickets are issued on a first-come-first-served basis; and that the upcoming event will have an attendance fee of ¥1,000 to cover the cost of the stand-up comedy portion of the evening, that will be run by the Tokyo Comedy Club.

Great feedback

Guests gave extremely positive feedback on the event.

As with previous events, 100% of attendees indicated that they would like to attend future similar events, and for many, it was a chance to start making connections in a brand new environment.

Here is what one guest said in the post-event survey:

“As someone who’s new to Japan, this event encourage me to step out of my apartment to explore the possibilities in a new environment.”

GaijinPot Meet Mojito Night attendee

In the post-event survey, attendees indicated that the top reasons they joined the evening were (1) to make new friends (2) to meet other foreigners, and (3) to meet GaijinPot staff, suggesting that awareness of the GaijinPot brand is very strong and that GaijinPot continues to be seen as a source of information for foreigners living in or visiting Japan.

Our staff also had a great evening and really enjoyed the chance to meet and talk with our users in person!

Respondents also indicated that they were looking for information about living in Japan. In response, for future GaijinPot Meets, we plan to invite guest speakers and to offer co-sponsorship opportunities to companies who would like to introduce relevant services to attendees.

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 August 24 at the Tokyo Comedy Bar.

On a related note, 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!