The cherry blossom season is without a doubt one of the biggest highlights of the year in Japan, and for people planning to visit during the sakura season it is crucial to plan far ahead in advance as this time of the year is becoming more and more popular also among foreign visitors. 

A red bridge in front of the entrance to the Bridge Hotel

The number of tourists to Japan has been nearly exploding during the recent years, and this had led to a wide range of new fancy hotels being built especially catering to the needs of foreign guests. During my annual visit to Osaka for the Toka Ebisu festival I stayed a night at the newly opened The Bridge Hotel Shinsaibashi, a hotel that aims to be a "bridge between Japan and the world".

In Japan university sports is a big thing, and some university students can get through their whole university education without almost studying even one bit, often getting excused from their tests and essays in order to fully concentrate on representing their university on the playing field. Different universities usually have different sports they are good at, and for my brother-in-law's university that sport is American football. This has been Taisei's forth and last year in university, and in the beginning of January he was one of the lucky players representing Kwansai Gakuin University's team Fighters in the 70th final of the American Football Japan Championship - also known as the " Rice Bowl" - in Tokyo Dome.

This year will be another challenging one for me continuing my career as a businesswoman in Tokyo, and I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and successful 2017!