Can someone who has attended past meetups post some thoughts and impressions? "Great time, very friendly people", "Met lots of like-minded individuals to network with", etc.
Nice mix of folks with interest in the tech industry, from programmers at banks to Tokyo startup founders to lawyers/accountants/etc. Probably 60% or so are technical. Very friendly folks, made some good friends there. Format is low-key mixer followed by drinks. Has been very useful professionally - met two clients there, got good advice, etc. Hope I have likewise helped folks. Wish more Japanese folks made it out.
I have been there the last few times and I was never disappointed! There were roughly about 30 people I would guess, working on very different things (arduino hackers, lawyers, web devs, firmware programmers, people who just enjoy reading HN etc.). The majority foreigners and most Japanese people who attended spoke a decent amount of English. However, at the last meeting (or the one before) it was maybe around 50/50 foreigners/japanese...
The atmosphere was very relaxed and "open", so you got to talk to everybody who you wanted to, which made for some really interesting discussions.
Afterwards, I'd say about half the people or more headed out to the "Tap room", a nice bar with all sorts of beer. If you're in Tokyo and have never attended before, I'd give it a go.
I have been there the past several times (and will be attending this one as well). I have been able to do some like-minded people and I have done some networking. Mostly, though, it was just a fun social time talking about all sorts of various technical stuff. I would definitely recommend coming out if you have the time.
We're an easy-going group and we just mix about and discuss whatever the hackers and entrepreneurs there feel like talking about (just like hacker news really). If you're new, just ask anyone there for Jason or Paul (me) and we'll make sure you get introduced around.
I went a few times and had a great time at each occasion. Jason and Paul are great hosts, and there has always been q quite diverse crowd (not just e.g. entrepreneurs or hard core hackers).
