How HirePlanner Is Reinventing
Tech Hiring in Japan
📍 Hosted by CIC Tokyo · Toranomon Hills Business Tower
Japan’s tech hiring challenge isn’t a talent shortage. It’s a visibility problem.
The engineers, product managers, solution architects and bilingual data scientists are here — in greater numbers than most hiring teams realize. But they aren’t always reachable through traditional channels alone, and they’re increasingly selective about which companies deserve their time.
The best tech professionals aren’t scrolling job listings — they’re busy building things. They want to feel stimulated, learn, grow, and find companies worth their ambition.
On the evening of February 19th, 2026, HirePlanner decided to meet them on their own terms.
The Tokyo Tech Meetup × IT Career Event drew 548 tech professionals, 35 speakers and 11 employers to Toranomon Hills Business Tower — six and a half hours built around three things no job posting or career website can replicate: genuine connection, meaningful learning, and the kind of opportunities that only happen when the right people are in the same room.
Every element was deliberate:
- Sharp panel discussions on AI, cybersecurity, data and solution architecture
- Hands-on workshops with real takeaways
- Company presentations that earned attention rather than demanded it
Co-organized with Venture Café Tokyo, the philosophy was simple: give people a genuinely rich experience first, so they leave with more than they arrived with — having learned something, connected with industry experts, and experienced the culture of the companies they’d actually want to work for. It worked. Quietly, organically, and in volume.
The best candidates don’t choose companies because of salary bands or job descriptions. They choose them because of how a company made them feel.
Here’s the full story.
▶ Watch the Highlights
📹 Recap from our February 2025 event — official 2026 video coming soon. Watch on YouTube ↗
"Recruiting is a lot like the music business. The best bands don't just wait for fans — they go on tour, perform live shows, and share their sound with the world. Similarly, hiring teams must actively promote their culture and opportunities to connect with the right talent. At HirePlanner.com, we provide companies with the stage, the spotlight, and the audience — empowering them to tell their story and grow their talent community across Japan."
The philosophy behind this event starts with a simple question: what do professionals actually look for when they choose to spend an evening in Tokyo?
Not a recruitment pitch. Not a superficial interview or job talk. They come to learn, to connect, to get inspired, to have a good time — and to feel the energy of a community they want to be part of. They come because the event itself is worth showing up for. And if something career-related happens along the way, all the better.
That insight is what HirePlanner Events was built on: not a job fair with better coffee, but a genuine platform where companies offer real value and where professionals can connect, learn, engage and inspire each other — and where hiring happens as a natural byproduct of something worth attending.
Professionals deserve to experience the true energy behind a company and its people — to feel the culture firsthand, and decide for themselves whether this is a place worth committing to.
We help companies recruiting in Japan by giving them the stage to tell their story, share their vision, showcase their technology, and connect directly with the talent they want to attract — in a way that talent actually responds to.
People choose companies based on how they feel about them — and feelings are built through experiences.
Panels, workshops, and demos that deliver real insights on AI, Data, latest technologies, and Japan’s evolving job market.
Genuine conversations with peers, leaders, and companies that share your values and ambitions.
Open doors for people looking to create careers, business and/or partnership opportunities.
The tour is just getting started — and we couldn’t be more excited about where it’s headed.
This is our stage. We hope you’ll join us, bring your energy, and help us create an experience the tech community in Japan will remember.
Panel Discussions
Learn from innovators, tech leaders and subject matter experts sharing real insights on the topics that matter most.
Hands-on Workshops
Build new skills, learn practical techniques and walk away with tools you can apply immediately.
Networking
Grow your professional network and build meaningful connections within Japan's tech community.
Company Presentations
Discover innovative companies growing in Japan — their business, career opportunities, technology, culture and stories.
Seminars & Product Demos
Explore new technologies and attend educational sessions led by practitioners at the forefront of innovation.
Career Coaching
Calibrate your career path with resume workshops, coaching sessions, interview prep and Japan market insights.
Event Program
A full day of learning, networking and opportunities, from 2:30 PM to 9:00 PM JST.
(Main Stage 15F)
(Workshops 16F)
(15F)
(15F)
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Discover new technologies, grow your network in Tokyo's tech community, meet exciting startups and companies hiring in Japan, find new job opportunities in IT, connect with tech professionals, and build connections that last — with good people, music, food and drinks.
Photos From the Floor
Select a category to explore the moments from each area of the event.
11 Employers of choice driving tech innovation in Japan
Each company featured at this event was carefully selected — not for their size, but for their vision and their corporate culture. These are organizations actively growing in Japan, driven by a genuine culture of innovation, clear values, and a meaningful sense of purpose. They are shaping the future of technology, making a real impact on society, and building teams that believe in something bigger than the work itself. Together, they represent the kind of forward-thinking employers that attract — and deserve — the very best talent in the market.
Why Companies Join
One evening. Long-term impact across your entire business. Participating companies don't just benefit on the night — they walk away with something far more lasting: qualified candidate conversations that can turn into hires, a full year of job advertising on HirePlanner.com reaching bilingual tech professionals across Japan every day, and a ready-to-use library of branded content — photos, videos, social assets and a company spotlight in the official event report — to keep their brand visible, credible and top of mind long after the lights go down. One commitment. 6 Benefits making it worth your while.
Take the Stage. Impress the Room.
Introduce your technologies, innovative solutions and product roadmap live. Show how your innovations are impacting your market and leave the room knowing exactly what you build, and why it matters.
Make Them Feel Your Culture
Reveal your leadership style, team spirit and how you invest in your people — and create an emotional connection that no careers page can replicate. Let candidates experience your culture firsthand and decide for themselves that this is a workplace worth considering.
Talk Tech. Find Talent.
Access all levels — entry, mid-career, tech leaders, PMs and bilingual tech professionals — build rapport with genuine conversations before you ever check a resume. Find culture fit the way it was always meant to be found: in person.
Walk Away With Weeks of Content
In one evening, we generate for you weeks' worth of ready-to-use content — professional photography, recap video, speaker clips, LinkedIn assets and a company spotlight in the official event report — to keep momentum going and your brand visible long after the night ends.
Hire All Year Long
On top of the event, get 12 months of job advertising on HirePlanner and its local job site partners — giving you access to over 13 million registered job seekers across Japan, with unlimited placements, automated workflows and zero extra fees.
Make Recruiting a Team Sport
Bring your Tech, Business and HR teams closer together, build internal alignment around a shared goal and strengthen cross-functional collaboration — then walk away closer as a team than when you arrived.
Recruiting is everyone's game.
And the companies that win know it. Too often it's left to HR alone, and too often, that's why it's harder than it should be. The best talent doesn't choose a job offer. They choose a team that communicates well, shares a vision, and makes them feel like they already belong. HirePlanner events exist to make that happen — one stage, one team, one room full of people who might just say yes.
🧑🏻💼👨💼👩🏻💼🙋🏻♂️🧑🏻💻Our Biggest Event Yet.
70%+ Mid-to-Senior professionals.
Highly bilingual and globally minded audience.
81% of attendees were actively or passively open to new opportunities at the time of the event.
Voices From the Room
Watch the Highlights
"This was my second time attending the HirePlanner Tech Meetup × IT Career Event — and they've raised the bar even higher than last time. What I love most is that it feels like a career event in disguise. You get to network with companies, learn about their culture, business and technology, and genuinely connect with their teams — all without the pressure of immediately talking about job openings. It's about building authentic connections and seeing if there's a natural alignment. When there is, opportunities create themselves organically. It's honestly hard to categorise — it's not just a job fair, not just a tech meetup, not just a conference, and not just a workshop — it's all of those elements combined into one cohesive experience. With this format, I truly believe HirePlanner is onto something special. Looking forward to the next one."
"The depth and diversity of talent culture that exists in Tokyo genuinely impressed us. If your company is looking for Japanese bilinguals and global minded talent in Tokyo, this is the audience you should be reaching. This is the place."
"What I really felt coming to this event is that there are so many bilingual professionals and job seekers out there — for any company looking to connect with that kind of talent, I would absolutely recommend participating in future events."
"In Japan, if your company's brand image isn't established, candidates simply won't come to you. Events like this genuinely help you elevate your brand and put you in front of candidates who might never have heard of you otherwise."
"Working with HirePlanner, I was honestly amazed at how much effort Fabien and his team put in behind the scenes — everything was very well organized, ran incredibly smoothly while creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere."
"I came expecting recruiters — and found so much more. Founders, tech leaders, engineers, all mingling in the same space and genuinely easy to connect with. The atmosphere was warm, friendly and surprisingly relaxed. The AI agent workshop was a highlight — incredibly practical, and something I'm already planning to use. A great event on every level."
"So much value on so many levels — all in one place. You learn from great speakers, grow your network, build genuine connections and ignite new collaborations. You get inspired by tech innovators and industry leaders. You discover cool, innovative and disruptive companies. You can find new job opportunities, reconnect with peers in your industry, attend workshops and walk away with new skills. Whatever you came for, you will leave with something. That's rare."
"Having a booth is great. People come to us, they talk to us, they're interested — and it leads to all kinds of conversations. Having a presence here is extremely effective and helps create opportunities: for business, for learning, and for careers too."
"There was constantly a stream of people passing by — I always had someone to talk to, zero dead time. I came in with no expectations, but the professionalism and quality of the whole event genuinely surprised me."
"You can send emails and work online all day — but you don't get that real connection. When you come to a HirePlanner event, that's when you actually connect with people, learn from them, and get a genuine feel for what's happening in the market. The feedback from candidates was immediate and invaluable. Joining this event helped us meet a lot of talented professionals in the tech community, while also giving us access to real insights on the tech market and latest trends in Japan. That's the main reason to join this kind of event."
"We made fantastic connections — sharing what we know about AI, the industry, and where it's going, while learning from colleagues and friends in the space. What made it truly special is that talent, companies, and community all came together in one place. There are a lot of talented people out there doing remarkable things, and it was great to see them all share that in one room. The world of AI is happening right now — and this is a fantastic event to be part of it."
"Everything takes place in a warm, welcoming, genuinely relaxed environment where people can be themselves. I met a lot of interesting and inspiring people — and everyone was friendly, nice, and easy to talk to."
"The networking atmosphere was great — connecting with recruiters in person is irreplaceable but the sessions were the best as it gave me genuine insights into each company, and I became more interested in several of them afterwards. Incredibly valuable for professionals seeking an international environment or a Gaishikei career."
The Team Behind the Event
A heartfelt thank you to every organizer, sponsor, partner, and community member who helped bring this event to life.
Successful Recruitment = AI + EI
Technology Attracts. Emotion Connects.
The data backs it up: 50% of what attracts top talent is rational — the tools, the tech stack, the product vision. The other 50% is entirely emotional — how someone feels when they meet your team, whether they sense a culture worth belonging to, whether they leave energised or just processed. AI gets you in front of the right people. EI is what makes them say yes.
"It takes an orchestra to make a symphony — we bring you the stage so that, together, we can redefine your hiring strategy and performance in Japan."
What Participating Companies Get
Everything you need to build your employer brand, connect with top bilingual talent, and grow your presence in Japan's tech community — all in one solution.
Be Part of Tokyo's #1
Bilingual Tech Community
Whether you're a Talent Acquisition professional or a CTO looking to hire top tech talent in Japan, the next HirePlanner event is the place to connect, engage, and recruit.
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