What is “日本 (Japan)” for you?
Video and Script Contest Winners
The Terasaki Nibei Foundation is excited to announce the results of the 1st video contest for Japanese language learners, sponsored by the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies with the support of Japan Foundation Los Angeles. Through this partnership we aim to promote the mutual understanding between America and Japan and launched a video/script contest for Japanese language learners in America. Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese language learners have had limited to no in person classes and social opportunities to showcase their language skills. The aim of the contest was to encourage learners who are studying Japanese to exhibit their language skills in a challenging context. We are pleased to share the winners of this year’s contest.
Here are the winners of videos and scripts.
Grand Prize award:
Chris Yamamoto: Script / テクテク歩く(Tekuteku Aruku)
Outstanding award:
Video:
Japan’s Cultural Influence to Our Hobbies
By Amanda Chan, Lisa Chen, Reishi Mikami
私にとって日本とは？ (What is Japan for me?)
By John Barbecho, Angela Flori, Weiyi Liu, Spenser Zhong
日本STREAM - 好きな音楽 (Japan Stream, my favorite music)
By Irene Pirovolikos, Vicki Li, and Liezl Gamboa
Script:
”旅する日本語” (Traveling Japanese language)
By Huamin Wen, Lisa Steward, Taeeun Kim
友達と旅する物語 (Story of the travel with friends)
By Christopher Hangan, Sabrina Stone, Ziyu Lin
Judges’ comment
By Mr. Kundo Koyama https://youtu.be/ItIhClRnIm4
By Mr. Yuichiro Uno https://youtu.be/ZoeynrH0fQ8
Participant's quote:
“I assigned this topic to my Advanced Level Japanese class as a group project. This video contest was truly an amazing opportunity for my students to connect with one another during this trying time. The topic ('What is Japan for you’) made them think about why they like Japan and also why they have been studying Japanese over the past few years. They told me they really enjoyed the opportunity to be creative and collaborate! I look forward to participating again next time with another group of students.”
Adjunct Lecturer in Japanese
Department of Classical & Oriental Studies
Hunter College, CUNY
hunter.cuny.edu/classics/japanese
“It was a great experience for me, as a Japanese language instructor and my students to participate in the contest. An award recipient, Huamin Wen commented; I really want to thank Terasaki Nibei Foundation for putting us in the spotlight, for recognizing our fun little project done in the Japanese class at UCLA. It really brings back good memories of people I met in college who I might not be able to see again in the future.”
Prof. Asako Takakura Hayashi
UCLA