The 5th Japanese-Language Speech Contest

The Minato UNESCO Association 40th Anniversary Commemorative Event in 2021

Date: Sunday, December 12, 2021
Venue: Minato City Gender-free Center “Libra”

We at MUA were delighted to register 12 applicants this year for the flagship event.  In retrospect, our first contest back in 2017 started with seven applicants.  My predecessors have taken the trouble of visiting many Japanese-language schools, located in Minato City, to recruit applicants.  Without any double, it must have been an enormous challenge.  Thanks to their accumulated efforts over the years, we could recruit 12 applicants this time, an increase of two over the initially planned number.  It certainly suited the special occasion of MUA’s 40^th anniversary.

   In an effort to advertise for applicants, we mailed out publicity leaflets to public facilities, foreign embassies, international schools, and Japanese-language schools located. in Minato City.  We also spread the information by SNS and word of mouth.  In addition, we made it a rule to advertise this event to the attendees who participated in a variety of MUA programs, including Japanese calligraphy, Bonsai and Bonseki.

   As the MC of this event, I started with an interesting ice breaker, asking the speakers and the audience the following questions which are all related to the number “40” in one way or another:
Question1: What would you choose as major world news that took place 40 years ago?  
          (Ans: Wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, The Pope’s first visit to Japan, etc.)
Question 2: Can you name the 40^th Emperor in Japan?  (Ans.: Emperor Tenmu)
Question 3: Who is the 40^th President in USA?  (Ans.: Ronald Reagan)
Question 4: What is the 40^th chemical element?  (Ans.: Zirconium)
Question 5 was addressed to a few young speakers who participated in this event.
           What would happen if you eat 40 cups of ice cream at once?  (Ans.: Loose stomach)
This concluded my ice breaker and the speech competition started.

   Let me summarize the winners.  Pariyar Nabin from Nepal won the grand prix (right photo).  Once when he was

delivering newspapers, he was greeted by an elderly lady saying, “Sumimasen.”  He wondered why she said so and came to a conclusion that she just wanted to express her appreciation for his paper delivery service early in the morning darkness.  It’s important in learning Japanese to catch the implied intention behind the expressed words.  From Nabin-san’s speech, we could understand the process how he thought deeply about the said question and arrived at his understanding of the Japanese mentality which we natives sometimes overlook.  I trust the judges highly evaluated his sensitivity.

   In the last contest, we added a new “Audience Popularity Award.”  This provided an opportunity for the audience to vote for their best choice speakers after they had listened carefully to each and every speech.  The following list shows the winners (name, home country, speech subject) of different awards:

Grand prix award: Pariyar Nabin (Nepal, “Sumimasen to \200”)

MUA president award: Chen Huang (China, “Kansha no kokoro”)  
Minato City mayor award: Sarah Emily Harrison (UK, “Hontouni hitsuyou desuka?”)
Judges award: Jomok Sahra Sicilia (Philippines, “Jinsei wa maemukini susunde ikou”)
Merit award: Nguyen Thi Mai (Vietnam, “Nihonjin wa tsumetai”)
Merit award: Yan Jinye (China, “Watashiga mita nihon”)
Merit award: Lkhagvasuren Javzmaa (Mongolia, “Corona to watashi”)
Merit award: Tran Thi Bien (Vietnam, “Akiramenai”)
Merit award: Luke Chon (Age 12, South Korea, “Luke no dilemma”)
Merit award: Maya Olivia Wheeler (Age 6, USA, “Corona”)
Merit award: Janine Chon (Age 9, South Korea, “Doushite corona ga sukijanaika”)
Merit award: Aibike Daiirbekova (Age7, Kirghizia, “What is Japan like to me?”)
Audience popularity award: Sarah Emily Harrison (mentioned above)

   MUA’s 40-year-long history must have countless episodes to be shared.  We’d like to keep up this annual contest as a platform where Japanese-language learners can demonstrate what they have acquired.   We hope this flagship program will help in promoting cross-cultural understanding.

(Written by TAGAWA J., Standing Director, and translated by TANAHASHI S., the PR & Internet Committee)