At the Finals Day of the Sixteenth Japanese Speech Contest for University Students on 6^th March 2021, attendees were treated to speeches and presentations on topics including (but not limited to) breakfasts in different countries, Japanese yakuza films, echo-chambers, and the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. Due to restrictions caused by Covid-19, this was the first time that the Speech Contest had ever been held online, but it was a great day and all the twenty-six students studying at nine different universities in the United Kingdom gave interesting, moving, and thought-provoking speeches all in Japanese.

The event started with the Individual Presentation Category (post-beginner level) where five finalists competed for the top prizes. Kailun Peng, a 3^rd year student from Imperial College London, won first prize for her presentation on cultural stereotypes entitled “Not exactly your ‘China doll!’: Living in a world of stereotypes”. Second prize was award to Maria Dunkley, a 4^th year student at the University of Warwick, who gave a presentation entitled “A Town and its Apple: A Love Story”, all about the history of the Bramley Apple and how passion for the Bramley Apple has connected people.

Wei Shan (Helen) Tan, a 4^th year student from Imperial College London, was awarded a special gift from the British Association for Japanese Studies for her presentation on “Mental Health and Us”, as her presentation was highly evaluated by the President of BAJS.

Next was the Speech Category. This category is for students studying Japanese as either a degree or non-degree course. As well as giving speeches, finalists must answer challenging questions in Japanese given by an interlocutor. SOAS University of London’s Maya Estrella Jones, currently in her fourth year of a BA in Japanese won the coveted first prize for her moving speech entitled “Imperfection is beautiful – How wabi-sabi can erase mental health stigma”. She drew on her knowledge of mental health issues and discussed how the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi could be used to re-evaluate how we treat those who are struggling with their mental health. Julia Mary Follan, a third year reading Japanese at the University of Oxford, scooped second prize for her speech on the theme of “A warning on the dangers of an unequal society”, where she compared Japanese and British society based on her observations of the two countries

The final presentations of the day were given by the five Group Presentation Category finalists, all of whom are studying Japanese at a beginner level. Group Presentation finalists were not placed individually but all received participation prices for their informative and lively presentations. This year we had presentations on: “The transition in the celebration of Chinese Dragonboat Festival” (Team Katana in the Zongzi, Manchester Metropolitan University), “Things You Shouldn’t Do in England!” (Team Purple Geese, University of Warwick), “Winter Holidays – Christmas & New Year” (Team Jolly Good Snow, Imperial College London), “Breakfast Culture (UK, Poland, China and Italy)” (Team King’s Breakfast Cub, King’s College London), and “A Day in the Life of 10 Year Olds from Poland and England (Doing a Homestay in Ecuador” (Team Primary School Kids, University of Hertfordshire).

Although this year we sadly could not have our traditional reception, we held the award ceremony online. It was very emotional rewarding these students for all their hard work, especially considering the immense amount of stress university students have been under during the Covid-19 pandemic, and there were many joyful tears, even among the event organisers! All winners and runners up were awarded some brilliant prizes, provided by our generous sponsors.

We hope that next year we will be able to hold this event in person, but we thought it was a wonderful moment of connection during this year of isolation to hold our Speech Contest online. Well done and otsukaresama deshita to all our finalists!

- To download a programme, click the first "Download Attachment" link at the bottom of this article.

- To download a list of winners and finalists, click the second "Download Attachment" link at the bottom of the article.

- Check out photos from Finals Day here on our Facebook page. (Coming soon!)

- Videos of the speeches can be viewed here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGZg9IfsKtWiZzQn-iuPnzpD_LtMZQWzA

- Information on the BATJ website in Japanese and English: Speech Contest (batj.org.uk)

We would like to thank all participants, their teachers and supporters, the judges, audience members and BATJ for making the contest such a success. In addition, special thanks must go to the generous sponsors who supported this event during this difficult time:

The British Association of Japanese Studies, Central Japan Railway Company, Clearspring, Connect Job, Eikoku News Digest Limited, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, IIJ Europe Limited, Japan Airlines, Japan Centre, JP Books, Ningyocho IMAHAN, Nikkei Europe Limited, Regions, Ricoh UK Limited, SUQQU Cosmetics, and ZOOM Japan.

We would like to encourage as many undergraduate students of Japanese language as possible to apply for next year’s contest! Finally, students still at school may be interesting in applying for the Nihongo Cup Japanese Speech Contest for Secondary Schools, the deadline for which is Fri 23^rd April 2021. Find out more here:The Japan Foundation, London - Whats On (jpf.org.uk)