The weather has certainly jumped from autumn to early winter already. Taking advantage of the seasonal changing colours I had a truly fabulous time out of Tokyo in October with a group of amazing lawyer ladies who signed up for the autumn Women Lawyer’s Retreat - I’m featuring one of the photos from the trip in this blog. Plans are already underway for the spring retreat in early April. Get in touch to hear more about what’s planned if you missed out this time and are curious to know what happened on tour! 

So, here’s what I got up to in October!

• The Women Lawyer’s Retreat was built around relaxation, refreshing and replenishing. I lead an intimate group coaching in our “circle of confidence” and the sharing amongst the fabulous group of six lady lawyers and mutual support they gave to each other was just phenomenal. They are already taking truly remarkable steps forward. For me one highlight of the rest of the itinerary was a special Shinto blessing at the 1300-year old Onsen Jinja Shrine and the Shinto priest taking hold of my iPhone to snap photos of us!! That was a first. 

  
  
  

• With the visa-free travel opening in Japan on October 11 it has been wonderful to see a stream of people arriving into Tokyo. It was great to meet in person for the first time Joe Jones, a bilingual solo practitioner in the US who I met via Linkedin. 

  
  
  

• Particularly special to meet up in person with Claire Chino, Celeste Koravos, Hiromi Shiraishi and Tracy Gopal at the recent Japan Board Diversity Network Corporate Governance event at Goldman Sachs.

  
  
  

• The ANZCCJ 50th Anniversary Gala was a highlight of the month. I was proud to present the Member’s Choice Award to John Bosworth, apparently the longest serving member of the Chamber. It was a night of glam, wet eyes watching the Kapa Haka group from Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Qantas video of Australian images. I’m truly proud to be the co-Vice Chair of this wonderful organisation strengthening the ties between Japan and New Zealand and Australia.

  
  
  

• I released 2 new episodes in the Lawyer on Air Podcast with Chika Hirata and with Yumiko Ohta.

  
  
  

• Together with co-pilot Jayne Nakata we released 2 episodes for the Jandals in Japan Podcast with 2 lovely female guests. One interview was with Chisa Ogura of Meros Consulting and the other with Julie Lindenberg from COGO. The Jandals in Japan Podcast is also entered in the New Zealand Podcast Awards 2022. Fingers crossed for a win! 

  
  
  

• I was a guest on not one, but two podcasts in October. The first was an interview with Pamela Young on the thrive2030 CEO series. I was asked to provide first-hand commentary as a leader in Asia Pacific to share how I have responded to the pandemic and how the pivots I have made have strengthened my business to thrive to 2030. Pamela asked me lots of big questions such as the lead up to and aftermath for former PM Abe’s shooting, the discussions between PM Kishida and PM Yoon of South Korea on the sidelines of the UN Council meeting, Japan’s participation in QUAD and how she is bidding to be part of the Five Eyes group. We also touched on how my “lawyer with manufacturing company speciality” which has been significant in leading to my Board role with Fujitsu. This was a super conversation and I relished being asked questions as an executive on the ground in Japan.

  
  
  

• I was also a repeat guest back on the Be That Lawyer Podcast with Steve Fretzin.This time he did his first international panel and brought in another lawyer coach Clare Fanner and we had explored different approaches to building your book of business as a lawyer in the UK, US and Japan. It’s a great listen. 

  
  
  

• In November more glam is afoot with the British Chamber of Commerce British Business Awards 2022 and super excited for Jayne Nakata as she is nominated for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award! This year I made the exciting move to become a Sponsor for these Awards and wrote about that decision here.

  
  
  

• Shhh sneak preview of my next blog … because I can’t wait to tell you I was at the All Blacks vs Brave Blossoms rugby game at the Olympic Stadium - which sold out to 65,000+ spectators! …. and as I pen the last lines of this blog I am less than 12 hours having just seen the amazing Bruno Mars in Concert at Tokyo Dome His songs and lyrics are swirling round my head. More on these two events in the next blog as well as a bunch of other activities that are plotted in my November calendar! 

Last but by far not least, I got to catch up with Debbie Howard who I’ve not seen since June 2019! She delivered an amazing Age-Tech event in Tokyo! It’s way too long since I saw Debbie but it struck me so deeply, how you can just pick up from where you left off, with friends you know well. We are planning a trip to Portugal in 2023! I can’t wait for that first big trip overseas post-pandemic.

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

Catherine