The International Education Center is seeking participants for the 39th annual International Speech Contest in Japanese, slated for June 6.
Applicants must be 15 years old by the contest date and nonnative speakers of Japanese. Also, applicants cannot have received the first prize, the Foreign Minister's Award or the Education Minister's Award in previous contests.
The speech will be seven minutes in length and topics are not to be religious or commercial in nature. The presentation will be followed by questions. Applicants are to send a recorded speech, manuscript and photograph for the preliminary selection for 10 to 12 contestants.
The event will be held June 6 at the Nagaragawa Convention Center in Gifu. Sponsors include the Foreign Ministry, Education Ministry, Japan Broadcasting Corporation and The Japan Times. The application deadline is April 23. For more information or application forms, call the International Education Center at (03) 3359-0561 or write to International Speech Contest in Japanese, International Education Center 21 Yotsuya 1-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004.