Abiko International Relation Association - THE AIRA’S 22ND INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST WAS HELD

THE AIRA’S 22ND INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST WAS HELD

The International Speech Contest co-sponsored by AIRA and Abiko City was held for the first time in three years.(N. 22-8)

Date & Time : Sep. 25, 2022 (Sun), 13:00 ~ 15:30

Venue : Abiko Civic Plaza Multi-Purpose Hall

Participants : 4 speakers in English, 4 speakers in Japanese

1 reciter in English (Total 9 participants)

Audience : Approximately 80 people

Emcees : Ms. ADACHI Noriko (Director of Administration Dept. of AIRA)

Mr. Xing Kai Jun (Sophomore of Chuo Gakuin University)

AIRA’s International Speech Contest was held for the first time in three years due to the spread of COVID-19 from the spring of 2020. The purpose of the contest is to foster young people with international perception and to improve their English or Japanese abilities.

It was hard for AIRA to grasp the correct number of participants because main targeted contestants are junior-, high-school, and university students who have not fully come back to their normal school life yet.

So AIRA has taken stringent measures against the infection including setting an acrylic board on the podium and cleaning the acrylic board, the microphone, and the podium after every speech is finished. Japanese speakers made a speech in English and non-Japanese in Japanese. The contest was judged not by their language skill but by the content of their speech. A new award named “The Award of World Dolls” was set up this year on the grounds that Mr. KOU Yasuharu, the Founder and President of the World Dolls Museum, made a donation to AIRA. Mr. KOU, self-proclaimed “a world traveler”, had traveled 275 countries and regions so that he hoped to spend some for financial support to young people studying abroad.

Led by Ms. ADACHI and Mr. Xian, the speech contest opened with the remarks by AIRA President KITAJIMA Fumiko and Mayor of Abiko City HOSHINO Jun-ichiro.

The first speaker was an elementary school girl (5^th grade), who made a recitation about what she learned in her volunteer activity during the summer vacation.

Then two junior high school students and two adults made speeches in English. One of the junior high school students talked about “What’s the standard?”. The other talked about “his wish to help persons in trouble and to make world better, which he had learned from his trip abroad. One adult speaker talked about “the three skills needed to survive in foreign countries, which he learned in the places of his assignment. The other adult speaker talked about “The pride of the Japanese-Brazilian” which she learned from her relatives immigrated to Brazil.

Then, four speakers made speeches in Japanese (1 university student,

3 adults)

The uni. student talked about “his dream to build a cultural bridge between China and Japan, of which he was aware after in-person classes and direct communication came back to the university. He also talked about the survival skills in an age full of anxiety and confusion referring to the idea of 　BUSIDOU by NITOBE Inazo.

An adult made a speech about how she could get a happy families after she came to Japan. 　The other adult talked how she could improve Japanese, have a healthy body and make friends through going to the gym.

After all speeches were completed, the judges went out to a different room to discuss the contest result.

During the time, Mr. NOGUCHI Noboru delivered an on-line short lecture (on the Zoom application), titled “My career with UNESCO for five decades”.

Mr. NOGUCHI worked for National Federation of Japanese UNESCO Association as Director General, advisor, and also stationed at the headquarters of UNESCO, in Paris and the Beijing office. He delivered a speech citing his own experiences. The followings are some topics he talked about:

UNESCO

* Japan has formed profound relation with UNESCO since the joining of the organization in July 1951, and the United Nations in December, 1956, which made Japan come back the international arena after the end of WWII.

* The Japanese garden donated by the Japanese government is located in the courtyard of the headquarters of UNESCO.

* The International Committee of Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) was established in 1922 in the framework of the League of Nations． Mr. NITOBE Inazo, the Deputy Secretary General of the League of Nations was in charge of the work for UNESCO.

* UNESCO has special features that other international organizations don’t deal with education, science, and culture.

His memorable experiences from his long career

* One of the most memorable missions he was involved in is the program that Israel accepted Palestinian students as international students (around 1996) though the two countries had no diplomatic ties.

* The other is that UNESCO and the Mongolian Office conducted the research and preservation project of Karakorum Ruins when he was the head of the Beijing Office. The Japanese Government extended financial assistance to the project.

* The third one is that UNESCO conducted the same kind of the project to preserve the wall paintings of Complex of Goguryo Tombs, and similar project at Daming Palace in Xi’an, China. Mr. Noguchi also engaged in this project to preserve and repair the valuable palace in collaboration with China.

The logic and human empathy are needed to work for international organizations

It is imperative for the personnel of international organizations to speak logically, to be trustworthy as a human, to have sympathy to others, and not to lose the sensitivity the Japanese have such as delicate attention,　kindness, and teamwork, and so on.

Credential required for global human resources

* For the persons working globally, it is crucially important to have the personality trusted by other, including knowing virtues of Japan, accepting cultural differences, and recognizing diversity. Equipping the credential is more important than having good command of English.

* The late Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ghanaian diplomat, Kofi Atta Annan, encouraged young people even if they were not either British or American, they would be able to land a position at the UN.

Mr. NOGUCHI’s lecture composed of his own experiences moved the audience and made them feel international organizations closer.

The award ceremony started at 15:00. The prize winners were given the award certificates and prize-money. Additionally, YANAI Kokoro got “The Award of World Dolls” and Mr. KOU handed the list of prizes to her with a word of encouragement. A present was handed to KURATA Yuko, elementary school girl, who made a recitation.

★AIRA President Award (English)：YANAI Kokoro (3rd grade of junior high-school) ＜Title : “Where do standards come from?”＞

★Abiko Mayor Award (English)：Xu Wenxu (Sophomore)＜Title: Building a bridge of friendship between China and Japan＞

★Abiko City Education Board Award：HAMAI Kenji (2nd grade of high-school)＜Title: Let’s make a better world＞

★Chuo Gakuin University President Award：Gulrukhsor Safarova (Adult)＜Title: Life in Japan＞

★Kawamura Gakuen Women’s University President Award：TANAKA Yasuyuki (Adult)＜Title: How to survive in foreign countries＞

After the award ceremony, Mr. MARU, Chairman of Abiko Education Board made brief comments about the speech contest. The contest ended with the closing remark by the director of the executive committee, HAYASAKA Mitsuru.