In Japan's notoriously closed business culture, employees rarely enjoy opportunities to expand their professional networks or test their skills and knowledge outside their companies.

Eiko Hashiba is trying to terminate that stagnation by giving professionals across the board from IT engineers to farmers innovative chances to share their skills and knowledge with others in need.

"Many people are not aware of their own value because the value of their experience is what is compared to others," said Hashiba, co-founder and CEO of online business-matching platform VisasQ Inc. "You may think you are not the most knowledgeable person in a company. . . . But when you look outside, you may be valued as a specialist who can give very useful feedback."