A government-sponsored job-interview session began Monday in Tokyo, bringing job-seeking university seniors and graduates together with companies looking to hire.

Dressed in blue and gray suits typical of job interviewees, some 100 employment-seekers lined up in front of the Tokyo International Forum in the Marunouchi district before the opening of the session at 9:30 a.m.

"I've heard the situation is a little bit better than last year, but it seems like the job market is still tight this year," said Noriyuki Kojima, 23, who traveled from his home in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, to attend the event.

Kojima, who has been unable to find a job since graduating from a private Tokyo university last spring, could not hide his anxiety, saying, "I wonder how I will find a job and make a living."

Another of the session's participants, a 22-year-old female student at a private university in Tokyo, said: "I started job-hunting quite early. But I've had no positive response yet, although some of my male friends have secured jobs.

"They say the economy is getting better, but I do not feel that way."

Some 700 companies from Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures are participating in the two-day session.

Although the number of participating firms increased from last year, the number of job offers dropped 25 percent to some 11,500.

The Labor Ministry said it expects 10,000 job-seekers, up 2,000 from the previous year, to attend this year's session.