By Waqar Naseem Wamiq

RIYADH — The embassy of Japan recently held the 10th Japanese Language Speech Contest at the residence of the ambassador in the capital. A number of local Japanese-learners gathered to demonstrate their daily practice and express their idea throughs Japanese language.

In the general category, Ms. Sumaiya won the first prize, comically comparing Saudi Arabia and Japan through a thought experiment to replace the Saudi and Japanese people. She described passion and bonds of family and friendship as the common virtue between the two countries, with her original and witty humor. Her closest rival, Leen, 14 years old, also demonstrated her proficiency with a well-crafted story of how she overcame the difficulty to learn different languages.

In the advanced category, five distinguished and experienced learners competed fiercely. Hussain Al-Salem slightly won the top, coming all the way from Najran on this occasion. His touching story impressed the audience: how he found Saudi scholarship program and endeavored at his remote village, endeavored there, and then with the drastic life change, how he met hardships in Tokyo. Thanking all the support for his life in Japan, as a respected scholarship recipient, Hussain vowed to continue his studies and contribute to Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 by his research.

The audience was astonished by each speaker’s mastery of Japanese language, and judges praised individual participants, pointing out that each speaker well demonstrated his/her own strength through impressive stories. As one of the judges, Ambassador Tsukasa Uemura said, he was surprised with the eloquence of each speaker, in particular the smooth delivery which represents a continuous practice of the language. Expressing his gratitude to each of them, Ambassador Uemura asked the speakers to act as bridge between the two countries.