While some bars have live music to bring in customers, newly opened Hackers Bar in Tokyo's Roppongi district holds live computer coding events to bring in the programmers.

The bar's owner and founder, Akihiro Nakao, is an entrepreneur who had dabbled in programming since he was a child but graduated from Miyazaki University's department of medicine and obtained a medical license. Rather than becoming a doctor, Nakao decided to enter the IT world and become a web engineer. At one point he was involved in the development of mixi, Japan's largest social-networking website. Now 32, Nakao runs a medical-related IT company called Hymena (www.hymena.jp) during the day, and at night he moonlights as a bartender and "hacker."

"In a nutshell it's a bar where you can consult a hacker. We aim to be a bar where you can not only talk about system development, but also how to proceed with your business and manage it," says Nakao. "As a result, I hope it will become a place where managers, engineers and creators can gather, and become a base for software development in Tokyo."