Around 200 companies participated in a job fair for college juniors Monday in Tokyo, up 40 percent from last year.

The increase on the job-offer side "shows growth in hiring interest among the companies, reflecting the economic upturn," the event organizer at Recruit Co. said.

"This is a good opportunity to get concrete information from companies," said a 24-year-old male engineering student. "I will stay here until the evening and meet with about 20 companies."

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) said half of the companies it surveyed are planning to give informal job offers to student applicants mainly in April or early May.

The job interviews for these students will get into full swing in April.