Japan & Taiwan come together for WEB Matsuri 2017

Recently, Nulab coordinated and sponsored an event called the WEB Matsuri in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City. WEB Matsuri is the first event of its kind, aiming to bring Japanese and Taiwanese tech communities together.

WEB Matsuri 2017

On November 19th, participants gathered at DAKUO’s Kaohsiung location. The event kicked off with an opening talk by Nulab’s own CEO Masanori Hashimoto and Emma Huang, Manager of DAKUO and member of the Kaohsiung City Economic Development Bureau.

The afternoon was filled with talks spanning topics such as web development, design, business management, and marketing. Eight speakers presented, including:

• Yuki Moritani, the Cloud Solution Team Manager of the Innovation Management Department at NTT DOCOMO, INC, Japan’s largest telecommunications company
• Noriyuki Nakano, Director and CTO of Japan startup Temona.inc. and Co-founder of Taiwan’s Diandian Technology. 
• Pokai Chang (Neson), Senior Rails Developer at Taiwan’s 5xRuby

Plus members representing groups like Webduino, Scala Fukuoka, and KSF2E.

Nulab’s CEO Masanori Hashimoto (left) giving the group of a few laughs

Emma Huang from the Kaohsiung City Economic Development Bureau (left)

Nulab’s Community Manager & WEB Matusri’s main event coordinator Lillian Lu

WEB Matsuri 2017 attendees!

A professional interpreter was available to translate any questions between Japanese and Chinese.

Introducing the latest technologies with attendees

Most attendees are web developers and designers

Attendees eager to enter the venue

The afterparty

The word “Matsuri” means “Festival” in Japanese. This event was more than an exchange of knowledge; it was a celebration of cultures collaborating together. So after the talks were over for the day, it was time for a very special afterparty.

It started with greetings from both Kaohsiung and Fukuoka City representatives.

MS. Uehara, Economy Section 
Assistant Director for the Fukuoka City Business Startup & Investment Promotion Department (left) and Tseng Wen Sheng (Vincent Tseng) (right), the Kaohsiung City Government Director-general for the Economic Development Bureau.

Tseng Wen Sheng (Vincent Tseng) (right), the Kaohsiung City Government Director-general for the Economic Development Bureau

They were followed by a traditional Japanese Tako performance.

Nulab’s CEO DJing for attendees

Next, Miss Japon and two local Taiwanese dancers continued the entertainment with a dance performance. They followed up by teaching attendees a few dance moves.

Ms. Akira with 2 Taiwan local dancers

Mr. Murajun, founder of Myojo Waraku playing games with attendees

Attendees learning Japanese dance moves

To emulate the Japanese festival atmosphere, WEB Matsuri organized game booths commonly seen in Japan, including lucky draw, yo-yo ball fishing, and throwing hoops. Japanese yukata were prepared for attendees to try on. And there was an exhibition of local artists. 

Trying on Yukata

An attendee hopes for a lucky draw

Uber offered a special discount for WEB Matsuri attendees.

Many attendees visited Nulab’s booth to speak with our Customer Success team member Masato Nabeshima about our products.

Top Career representative from Taiwan shared the benefits of working in Japan and the latest job opportunities.

TK beer is a Taiwanese local beer brand with a lot of international recognition

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This event wouldn’t have been possible with the support we received from both Taiwanese and Japanese speakers, vendors, sponsors, partners, and dedicated volunteers. Special thanks to Akastuki, Top Career, 5xRuby, TK Beer, and Uber!

After months of preparation, it was great to see WEB Matsuri receive such positive feedback from attendees and Taiwan’s local media.

Collaboration is the key to success, and we see big opportunities for both Japan and Taiwan to collaborate now and in the future.