After arriving to Japan, I attended a Japanese language school and a vocational school in the Kansai area, then moved to Tokyo for my job. The charm of Tokyo is that you can meet many different people and that there are lots of job opportunities. I think that the city is easy for foreigners to live in, as many employees and tourists gather from all over the world.
I am currently working at Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro. Ikebukuro is an exciting place with department stores, amusement parks, theaters and other entertainment facilities. You can also enjoy food and culture from around the world.
On the other hand, Nippori, where I was worked previously, is a traditional downtown area with many famous shrines and temples. In the big city of Tokyo, the atmosphere is different in each area. The more I learn about Tokyo, the more I discover new parts of the city.

I live in a quiet residential area located 15 minutes by train from Ikebukuro. In Singapore, it is difficult for young people to live by themselves due to the dense housing situation. But in Tokyo, its much easier as there are many reasonable rental properties for single person households as well as shopping streets to buy the essentials.
I have been able to live independently by cooking for myself and being careful to save money. My favorite dish is rice cooked with plenty of vegetables and fish. Even when I'm busy, I try to have a balanced meal as much as possible.
During my days off, I go to the judo club and volunteer at a nearby nursing home when they play mahjong. Many of my mahjong friends are elderly people, but I'm always curious to hear about Japan and Tokyo in the olden days. I also enjoy going outside of Tokyo to visit sightseeing spots located near Tokyo such as Hakone and Kamakura.

I am in charge of check-ins, group reservations, offering concierge service for guests, and other tasks.
I take advantage of my background in IT and my experience working at a travel company to tackle new challenges, such as developing a centralized system to manage group reservations and also negotiating with travel agencies.
With the coronavirus, there’s a huge drop in tourists from abroad, but we are striving to attract Japanese guests. We have diversified our accommodation services such as offering stays during business hours for office workers, plans for domestic business trips, and accommodations for students preparing for exams. Once international travel resumes, we hope to launch a new package deal that also offers ticket arrangements and sightseeing tours in addition to accommodations.
We also plan to host exchange programs between Japanese guests and foreign tourists to promote Sakura Hotel as a hub for international exchange.

Sakura Hotel is a pioneer in foreigner friendly hotels. We strive to live up to our motto “a welcoming hospitality” and we hold events for our guests. One event called “Yomoda Kai” was especially popular. We asked our foreign guests to teach us a homey dish from their home country and then shared the meal together. Some of these recipes shared by our guests can be eaten at our restaurants called “Grandmothers' Recipes." While we cannot hold such events in this coronavirus environment, each Sakura Hotel have come up with other creative events. The Nippori branch offers a tour around Yanaka Ginza, and the Akasaka branch offers trips to sumo games. The Ikebukuro branch where I work offers tours around Kawagoe and shrine visits during the Japanese new years.
The reason I got a job at Sakura Hotel was because I participated in these events. I originally worked at a travel agency because I wanted to work in tourism. But through attending these events, my interest shifted to the hotel industry where I could interact with people around the world.
Japanese hospitality (omotenashi) has an emphasis on attentive care without becoming too burdensome. I believe that the hospitality at Sakura Hotel is its close proximity to our guests. Sometimes, the employees befriend the guests and even travels together off work. I also hear about guests who found life partners during their stay. I feel blessed every day to work in an environment where I hear about these wonderful encounters.
By offering a warm and friendly hospitality and striving to become a Japanese home for our guests, I hope to convey the charms of Japan and Tokyo. For our Japanese guests, I also hope that this hotel becomes known as a hub for global exchange.