About TokyoDev

Since 2011, TokyoDev has been helping international software developers start and grow their career in Japan. We do this through a job board with positions for English speakers, articles about finding a job here, a community to discuss life as a developer in Japan, telling the stories of international developers working here, and conducting an annual survey of international developers living in Japan.

The story of TokyoDev

TokyoDev started as a blog talking about our founder Paul's own experiences about living and working in Japan as a developer. An article about how he found a job as a developer in Japan attracted other international job seekers, as at the time, it was the only English language article on the topic. Other job seekers asked him more questions, which resulted in more articles, and the site grew from there.

Occasionally, Paul would hear about job opportunities for English speaking developers in Japan, and starting in 2013, he'd post them to a mailing list he started. By 2014, he learned that companies were actually making hires through the mailing list, and so he turned it into a small business, still very much as a side project.

The mailing list would continue to grow, and more and more companies were having success with it. While initially it was just smaller startups Paul had a personal connection to, soon some of the biggest players in tech in Japan were approaching him. In response, he added a job board section to the site so that developers could see all the positions that were actively hiring.

With the site continuing to experience tremendous growth, Paul finally made TokyoDev his full time job in 2021.

That's the short version. You can read the complete story in Personal Blog to Profitable Business: the Story of TokyoDev.

About our founder

Paul McMahon came to Japan in 2006 on the working holiday visa program, and quickly found a job as a software developer at a Japanese startup.

In 2009, with two colleagues from that company, he left to found Mobalean, helping international companies expand their mobile presence in Japan.

In 2010, he founded Tokyo Rubyist Meetup to bridge the international and Japanese ruby communities.

In 2013, he incorporated Doorkeeper Inc., to spin off a side-project that he started at mobalean. The site would become one of Japan's major event registration platforms.

In September 2021, he sold his stake in Doorkeeper, and TokyoDev became his sole business.

Paul's always happy to talk. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter as @pwim.

Company Information

Company Name (Japanese) TokyoDev株式会社
Company Name (English) TokyoDev Inc.
Representative Director Paul McMahon
Established October 2022 (as a company)