The 28th Japanese Speech Contest in Belgium

On November 30, the 28th Japanese speech contest was held by the Nihonjinkai at the Japanese School of Brussels. In the contest, there were 6 persons who took part in group A, aimed at beginners, and 6 persons in group B, aimed at the intermediate or higher level. The contestants held speeches in Japanese about topics such as their experiences in Japan or their personal interests, as well as about Japanse culture, showing the result of their daily study of the language.
The First Prize went to Ms. Amber Bursens, for her speech entitled “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (a story about war and peace), for which she also received a round-trip ticket to Japan with ANA airlines. The Ambassador’s Prize went to Mr. Walter Adant, for his speech entitled “What the Olympic Games can bring about”, for which he received a commemorative award from Ambassador Shimokawa. The Kikimasho Prize for the first place in group A went to Mr. Nils Ducoulombier, for his speech entitled “About IZ*ONE”.
In his address, Ambassador Shimokawa talked about the significance of learning a foreign language, and encouraged the participants to learn Japanese as the number of Belgians visiting Japan, as well as the interest toward Japan, increases year by year.