On 1 March, the 22nd Japanese Speech Contest took place at the Lao-Japan Budo Center in Vientiane Capital. Japanese-language learners in Laos delivered speeches in front of a large audience, with their teachers, friends, and families cheering them on.
This year, 17 participants competed in the reading section, 14 in the one-minute speech section, and 9 in the three-minute speech section. They were chosen from 137 applicants through a preliminary selection process by the organizing committee, which includes representatives from the Japanese Embassy and Japanese language institutes in Laos.
Japan’s Ambassador to Laos, Koizumi Tsutomu, encouraged the contestants and thanked everyone involved in improving Japanese language education in Laos. He stated, “The Embassy of Japan is happy to support students learning Japanese, as well as those who help them.”
