Is it just me or has May flown by at the speed of a bullet train🚅? In Japan the weather has been up and down - temperatures much like summer time (without the humidity) and then suddenly cold rain (usually on the weekends!!) and it’s time to pull out the sweaters again. This unusual May weather had me thinking I was in New Zealand as it is the country renowned for four-seasons-in-one-day changeable weather. 

It’s very clear that the gates are open into Japan again with a massive influx of tourists and business people around Tokyo. Since we had no one here for 3+ years their presence is really obvious. I have had several guests from New Zealand and Australia. I met with one group from EY on a clear blue sky day with Tokyo Tower as our backdrop at the Tokyo American Club. If you are coming to town and want this photo as your memory of Tokyo, get in touch with me! 

As we head into June it is the rainy season in Japan and for me the hydrangea blooming is one of the most joyful events for the eye! I have captured two early hydrangea blossoms -soft pink and vibrant blue - in this blog.

In other news these are some wrap-up highlights from my month of May 2023! 

• I had a couple of “wellbeing highlights” to bookend my month of May. The first wellbeing adventure was to take advantage of a one night staycation just before the Golden Week holidays at the start of May, at the beautiful Tokyo Toranomon Edition Hotel, part of the Marriott hotel chain. It was fantastic to indulge in luxury and switch off from work for 24 hours and have some pampering in the spa. I discovered investing in your own time out is not selfish but is actually an act of selfcare. “Put on your own life jacket first” as they say.

• The second wellness treat was at the end of the month where I headed up to Iwaki Yumoto Onsen for a short overnight get-away to catch up with business partner Jayne Nakata and plan out some exciting moves for our business ideas. We always find time to visit Maitai bar for a cleansing craft beer as you can see in the picture in this blog. This is one of the bars we go to during the Women Lawyers Retreat and it’s a really cool bar with great food like fish & chips and lamb chops (now you know why I like it!) 

• Many of my blog readers know that I am a devoted rugby fan. I’m excited to read in the news that two All Blacks will be coming to Japan to join the team sponsored by a certain “car manufacturer and mobility company”. More on that when it happens but I got a bit of a rugby-fan fix by meeting Michael Leitch at a recent event. He is part Japanese, part Kiwi and I was so surprised he is so tall - taller than he looks stomping round the field - and he has the biggest heart and softest personality with an inner strength. Perfect for the traits that a team’s captain needs.

• I received a bunch of inquiries in the last month about my coaching/mentoring offering for female lawyers who are aiming for getting on Boards. I also received inquiries about the Women Lawyers Retreat. Surprisingly, males also asked me to coach and mentor them so for select males I am opening this offering to them too. For the Women Lawyers retreat, if you are, or know of a female lawyer who you think would get a lot out of a peer-guided circle where everyone provides insights from their own lived experience, as part of a hot-springs indulgent retreat away from the city, then get in touch with me for the information on the next retreat at admin@catherineoconnelllaw.com. 

• I’m excited to be a finalist in three category awards in the Japan Law Awards on June 8th - Women Lawyer of the Year (law firm), Boutique Law Firm of the Year, and Rising Law Firm of the Year. Wish me luck ☝️

Getting out and about 

• I had the absolute pleasure of hosting Mami Hino and Junko Mukoyama - both wonderful guests of mine on the Lawyer on Air Podcast. Both had known of each other but had never met in person, so bringing them together was such fun at Tokyo American Club, Nihonbashi. If you are really observant you can see in the photo on this blog that I am wearing the necklace that inspired the logo of the Lawyer on Air Podcast!

Community events coming up

• Join Women in Law Japan for the Sizzle @ Sundown networking event on the evening of Thursday, June 29th at the Pullman Tokyo Tamachi Hotel. You can sign up to be a member of WILJ here so you can receive the event information as it is released

• LLAN and Robert Walters will host an event, hot on the heels of the G7 Meeting in Hiroshima in May, on the topic of the State of LGBTQ Rights in Japan (Thursday June 15th). Despite a Japan business-community submission to the G7 to pressure Japan to put marriage for all on the agenda, they focused on other topics. See the picture attached with a QR code for details to sign up and also here for convenience

Lawyer on Air Podcast

• We refreshed the Lawyer on Air graphic - see photo in this blog - to update it to my current lively brand colours. This is the first refresh after two years with the former dearly loved image. Both photos of me from the old and the new LOA graphics, were taken by Tia Haygood of Top Tia who really is tops in all personal branding + headshot photography. Book a photo session with Tia and tell her you read about her on my blog and she will treat you extra specially!

• I released TWO episodes and ONE SPECIAL episode of the Lawyer on Air Podcast Mami Hino featured in Season 5 Episode 8, on her phenomenal journey from Pharmacology to International Patent Lawyer and Akiko Ouchi spoke about grabbing Opportunities in Your Legal Career or Creating Them Yourself!

• The mic was turned on me for the special episode 9 in Season 5 where I lifted the lid on securing Board roles in Japan and talked about seizing opportunities in life and turning hiccups in life into gifts. 

If you are enjoying my podcast episodes, I would love you to take just a few minutes of your time over this holiday break to leave me a rating on Apple podcasts, and write a short review so more people can hear about the podcast after reading your words to encourage them to do so. Drop us a quick email to tell us which episode you liked and why to: admin@catherineoconnelllaw.com 

Jandals in Japan Podcast

Together with co-host Jayne Nakata we released another two new episodes of the Jandals in Japan Podcast. 

• We got excited to learn about how New Zealand is helping Japan to boost its Geothermal production with Yoshifumi Iwamura of GNS Science and Geo40 in Episode 30.

• In Episode 31, we went talked about the amazing “little fruit” - KIWIFRUIT with the APAC Executive Officer for 🥝ZESPRI, Ichiro Anzai with his episode entitled “Doing Big Business in Japan with a Small Team”

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And finally… 

I mentioned in the last couple of blogs about my nomination to be appointed to the audit and supervisory board of the world’s biggest car maker and Japan’s largest company, Toyota Motor Corporation. It was a highlight in May to visit Toyota City to meet with some of my future Board colleagues, do a tour of one of the manufacturing plants which was awesome, and have a personal tour of a fantastic history museum as well as a very special visit to the home of the founder of Toyota. One photo in this blog is me sitting inside a classic Toyota Crown RS31 made in 1961 (many years before I was born!) My next mission is to be in a Toyota racing car in the front seat. Watch-this-space ! 🏎

That’s all from me for this month. See you in June.

Catherine