Award winners and jury members (front row, fourth from left: Mr. CHOI, President's Award winner)
On December 14, 2024, the Japanese Language Education Center (Director: Professor NAKAJIMA Harushi, School of Agriculture), hosted the 29th President’s Cup Japanese Speech Contest for International Students at Surugadai Campus, with support from the Parents’ Association and in collaboration with Meiji University Campus Mate, an international exchange organization. Thirteen international students from Korea, Taiwan, China, and France shared their thoughts in speeches on the theme, “What I want to share about my home country with Japan.”
CHOI Kiju, a fourth-year Korean student at the School of Commerce, won the President’s Award, the contest’s first prize. In his speech titled “Kimchi Communication,” CHOI, speaking fluently in Japanese, introduced “kimjang,” the Korean tradition of making kimchi at home, and emphasized how it fosters communication among family and people around them, as well as mutual support among friends. Impressing the judges with his speech on the importance of family meals, he earned the President’s Award.
The Japanese Speech Contest for International Students has been organized since 1996 to help international students improve their Japanese skills and encourage student interactions. Students of Campus Mate, the university’s official international exchange organization, play a key role in planning and running the contest. Each contestant is usually paired with two students who serve as Japanese language advisors and assist them in refining their speeches until the contest, providing both international and Japanese students an opportunity to interact.