Traditionally, a person listening to a children’s fairytale will hear the words “Once upon a time.” During the annual Japanese speech contest, however, the crowd got used to hearing the stories begin with “Mukashi, mukashi wa.”
Twelve U students competed during the annual Japanese speech contest held in LNCO 1110 on March 3.
Japanese is the only department that holds a speech contest, Shoji Azuma, who participated as a judge, said.
“I wish people from other cultures came to this contest,” Azuma said, “Even if they might not understand Japanese, they will end up learning something about the culture.”
The participants delivered different speeches depending on whether they were in the beginning or advanced division.
Students in the beginner division performed the traditional Japanese folk tale of The Bamboo Princess, in which an elderly couple finds a baby girl in a stalk of bamboo. The folk tale is one of the oldest stories in Japanese history, said Jeff Hsu, who won first place in the beginner division.
“I practiced my speech in short intervals over a month, and I think it paid off,” Hsu said, “Not just because of the win, but because I think (the contest) helps spread the word about Japanese culture.”
Hsu, a junior in economics, was a last-minute replacement over the contestant who was chosen to participate by his Japanese class but who had to drop out. Hsu was also last year’s speech-contest winner.
The speeches were judged on originality, composition on grammar elements and quality of story, Azuma said.
Students in the advanced division delivered speeches that were specifically written for the contest. Owen Stewart, a junior in Japanese, wrote an essay about the effect that anime has on both American and Japanese children.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize that Japanese animation has little or nothing to do with Japanese culture,” Stewart said, “However, lots of kids check it out because they are interested in the culture, so it’s not such a bad thing.”
Stewart won first place in the advanced division with his anime-inspired speech.
Stewart and Hsu will compete in the statewide speech contest March 28.