A Tokyo Corporate Event: Venue Sourcing, Cultural Experiences, and Strategic Planning for Executive Teams

Photo of buildings lit up in the evening, with crowds crossing a street in Shinjuku Kabukicho, a popular entertainment area in Tokyo, Japan
Shinjuku Kabukicho, a popular entertainment area in Tokyo, Japan. Photo credit: ©Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau

How a boutique events agency designed a six-day executive offsite in Tokyo with luxury venues, curated dining, and cultural programming.

Planning a Tokyo corporate event from the US can feel daunting. When a leading venture capital firm asked EJP Events to design a six-day executive offsite in Tokyo, the team of up to 19 people needed working sessions, cultural experiences, and enough breathing room to make the trip feel worthwhile. They adopted the motto Mono no aware – the profound appreciation of the beauty in fleeting moments – and the six days we designed reflected that sensibility throughout.

Finding the Right Workspace for a Tokyo Corporate Event

Sometimes the best venue is the one right in front of you. One team member lived at Toranomon Hills Residential Tower, and once we learned more about the property, it became the clear choice for the group’s workspace. The 210-square-meter lounge on the 41st floor offered panoramic Tokyo views, a professional kitchen for catered lunches, and flexible space for both structured working sessions and optional social time in the evenings. 

After a thorough venue selection process that involved multiple hotels such as Andaz Tokyo, Tokyo Edition, Pullman Hotel Tokyo, Capitol Hotel Tokyu, and more – the group decided on the Dai-Ichi Hotel in the Shimbashi neighborhood, which was very close to Toranomon Hills.

The team walked over from the Dai-ichi Hotel each morning and used the Toranomon Hills workspace across multiple days – a setup that kept them focused during sessions, while catered lunches saved the time they would have spent navigating an unfamiliar city at midday.

Culinary Excellence Across Six Days

We designed a dining program that showcased Tokyo’s depth and provided variety across all six days while accommodating dietary restrictions at every venue.

a long houseboat on the Arakawa river in Tokyo, often used for Tokyo corporate events
the Harumiya Cruising Restaurant, used by our Tokyo corporate event group for a welcome dinner cruise. Photo courtesy their website. https://omakase.in/en/r/ly197821

The welcome dinner aboard Cruising Restaurant Harumiya – a private buyout on Tokyo Bay – was the perfect way to reconnect after travel. Teppanyaki Ginmeisui GINZA split the group into intimate six-person partitions and a private back room, because the most meaningful conversations happen in smaller settings where everyone can actually participate. Shojin Ryori Daigo introduced Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Tofu Ukai hosted the group in private dining rooms for kaiseki-style tofu cuisine, demonstrating that dietary accommodation and culinary excellence go hand in hand. NEST@Peter at the Peninsula Tokyo – one of the world’s most recognized luxury hotels – served as the pinnacle dining moment of the week. On another evening, the group split into three teams for walking food tours through different neighborhoods, each with a dedicated guide.

Cultural Experiences With Purpose

The best executive retreats offer experiences that spark genuine reflection. Our Tokyo corporate event included a private Ikebana session at historic Kiyosumi Garden, where participants worked with a master teacher on Japanese flower arrangement – an art form grounded in principles of ma (negative space), balance, and restraint. That same morning included a visit to a nearby Buddhist temple for a traditional fire-burning ceremony.

An optional visit to the Yayoi Kusama Museum featured the Visionary Colors exhibition, including Kusama’s iconic infinity mirror rooms. For a venture capital team whose work centers on identifying visionary founders, experiencing Kusama’s singular creative vision firsthand carried particular resonance. The museum limits visitors per time slot, so advance booking was essential. The group also had the option to visit the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills, showing an exhibition on how contemporary art responds to the environmental crisis.

Friday evening featured walking food tours of Shibuya and Shinjuku neighborhoods, with an optional evening at Ce La Vi nightclub in Shibuya.

Five woman dancers in kimonos holding umbrellas stand on an illuminated floor that reads "CE LA VI Tokyo". This is a nightclub used often for Tokyo Corporate Events
Performers at the CE LA VI Tokyo nightclub. Photo by EJP Events

Saturday morning brought the group together for a sumo stable experience followed by bento box lunches. Throughout the week, we split the team into smaller groups for guided walking tours through Daikanyama and Nakameguro, Shimokitazawa, Kagurazaka, Omotesando, and Jiyugaoka. A ride on the Tokyo Sakura Tram – the city’s last remaining streetcar line – offered a view of daily Tokyo life rarely seen by visitors. These excursions gave the group physical activity after work sessions and time together in smaller, more conversational settings.

What It Takes Behind the Scenes

On the busiest days, the Tokyo corporate event required three guides and three vehicles operating simultaneously, with the group splitting into two or three tracks. On one afternoon, the group ran a dedicated investment team meeting at the workspace, while the rest of the group had the option to visit the Mori Art Museum – the kind of parallel programming that requires careful coordination across multiple schedules. We managed dietary accommodations across six different restaurants and handled logistics for a 19-person group navigating one of the world’s largest cities. This is the kind of complexity that experienced event planners absorb, so your team can focus on what they came to do.

A narrow alleyway with many Japanese paper lanters hanging from the shop and restaurant awnings.
Nonbei Yokocho in Shibuya district, Tokyo. Photo by EJP Events

Begin Planning Your Tokyo Corporate Event

Whether your next offsite is in Tokyo, across Japan, or in the many regions of the US, UK, and EU that we serve, EJP Events brings deep local knowledge, established vendor relationships, and cultural fluency to executive programs where every detail serves a purpose. We are your English-speaking, US-based global boutique agency who can handle the sourcing, the coordinating, the problem-solving, and the local relationship-building so you don’t have to. Ready to explore more? Please contact us.

A group of smiling people pose in a pair of rickshaws, with the rickshaw drivers in front waving and smiling. The Tokyo Skytree landmark rises in the background.  This area is popular with Tokyo corporate event planners
A group of business meeting attendees enjoying a rickshaw ride on a sunny day in the Asakusa area near Tokyo Skytree.

EJP Events: Strategic Event Design & Multi-Day Conference and Event Production

Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) | 25+ Years Experience | Portland, Oregon

ejpevents.com | info@ejpevents.com

Japan is open – Let’s hit the Golden Route!

Emee visits Toyokuni-jinja Shrine in Kyoto, April 2023

After several years of being closed to tourism during the pandemic, the country of Japan is open again. We returned for the first time since 2019, in March and April of 2023. And we found Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto to be just as vibrant as ever. Let’s help you with meetings and events in Japan!

Tokyo Recommended Activities and Itinerary

The capital of Japan and largest city in the world depending on your metric, Tokyo is many things, but never boring. Just riding around on the subways and commuter rail and wandering the many districts can provide a lifetime of fun for most. There are some attractions that require buying tickets far in advance to guarantee admission, but we’ve found them worth it: Ghibli Museum is dedicated to the famed animation studio. Owl Cafe Akiba Fukurou Tokyo, offers the opportunity to hang out with owls for a bit! And teamLab Planets is an immersive interactive digital museum. Tokyo Whiskey Library offers an extensive list of whiskeys from Japan and around the word in a lovely setting. Before you leave, take a journey to the observation deck of Tokyo Skytree, world’s tallest tower, to see from above what you’ve been exploring.

Tokyo Skytree

Osaka Recommended Activities and Itinerary

Japan’s third largest city, Osaka is just a three hour journey via Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo. While Osaka is dominated by tall glass towers just like Tokyo, Osaka Castle, a fortification in the heart of the city, is worth a visit. The castle was built in the 16th century and heavily reconstructed in the 20th. Dotonbori is the brightly-lit “drinking district” along its namesake canal, a great place to sample nightlife. Then treat yourself to a “spa day” at the Conrad Osaka Hotel, where you can get a truly luxurious massage. The many restaurants at the Conrad are also worth visiting, and the numerous meeting rooms would make this hotel a memorable conference spot. Additional meeting options can be found at Grand Prince Osaka (formerly Hyatt Osaka) which is near the INTEX convention center.

Osaka Castle

Kyoto Recommended Activities and Itinerary

Japan’s pre-modern era capital, Kyoto, is now the country’s ninth-largest city, still large (1 1/2 million people) but with a mellower feeling than Tokyo and Osaka. Kyoto’s biggest attraction is all its temples–go a mile in any direction and you’ll hit something. Kyoto’s many streets are filled with wood framed houses, a stark change from the other glass-and-concrete Japanese cities, a legacy from avoiding extensive bombing during World War II. Rent a mamachari bicycle from one of the numerous rental companies (remember to ride on the left!) and explore the temples, rivers, and bars. We love visiting Kyoto Beer Lab on the bank of the Takasegawa River.

Though I love all three cities, as a Portland-based meeting and event planner, Kyoto is my whole vibe! We stayed in the central city and found it easy to walk to a bike rental shop and just go toodling around the city by bike, visiting shops, restaurants, brewpubs, and temples along the way.

If we can help you with meetings and events in Japan, let us know! We have great partners in-country that support additional offsites, airport transfers, and transportation. We can craft a great itinerary for you.

Large convention space at Hyatt Osaka (now called Grand Prince Hotel, Osaka).

Additional writing: Shawn Granton