Twelve-year-old Yuichi Yoshioka was crowned the winner Saturday of The Japan Times Spelling Bee after correctly spelling the word presentient and landing a spot in the annual National Spelling Bee contest next month in Washington.
Yoshioka, who attends Global Indian International School in Tokyo, beat out 19 representatives from other schools across Japan to win the contest.
"I can't believe this," Yoshioka, whose mother is from the Philippines and father is Japanese, said after receiving a trophy from U.S. Ambassador John Roos.