The Japan Times is holding the third spelling bee in Japan on Saturday, when winners from 36 schools throughout the country will compete to win the chance to join the annual finals in the United States.
The spelling bee is a popular, time-honored event in the U.S. and some other countries where young students compete to correctly spell words.
The participants start at their local school or community-level competitions, then move on to higher levels until reaching the national finals. The competition is fierce as contestants, called spellers, are eliminated after only one misspelled word.