An award ceremony for the 5th Japanese Essay Competition for Chinese was held December 22 at Qingdao University in Shandong Province, China.

The competition seeks to promote friendly relations and mutual understanding between China and Japan. The theme of this year’s competition was Japanese Contributions to China, and the grand prize was presented to Wenchan Kuo, a third-year student at Qingdao University, for an essay entitled “Japanese Businesses Involved in Creating an Environmentally-friendly Society.” Ms. Kuo commented on the sense of friendship she experienced when she visited a Japanese company in Qingdao, where she learned about its environmental contributions to China.

Grand prize winner, Wenchan Kuo, from Qingdao University (right), with the Japanese Consulate General in Qingdao, Norio Saito

The competition was first held in 2005 by The Duan Press with support from The Nippon Foundation. This year, it drew 1,393 entries from 66 universities and 28 provinces, cities and districts. A total of 62 entries were finally shortlisted, and more than 30 won awards.

Wenchan Kuo concluded her essay by writing of her goal to further publicize the unglamorous but critical contributions made by Japanese citizens and businesses working in China, promoting reforms and development. She wants to work for a Japanese company after graduating from university, and on learning that the prize also included a one-week trip to Japan, she indicated that she looked forward to visiting Japanese companies here.

Yin Zhang from Xi’an Foreign Language University (left), this year’s winner of the Nippon Foundation Yohei Sasakawa Chairman’s Award, with Nippon Foundation International Cooperation Group Manager Hideo Sato.

In addition to Kuo, there were five runners-up--four students and one adult. Of these, the Nippon Foundation Yohei Sasakawa Chairman’s Award was presented to Yin Zhang from Xi’an Foreign Language University for an essay entitled “Schools for Achieving One’s Dreams.” The essay described Japan’s contributions to education in China, using the example of the high school at which her father taught. The school was energized by its ties with a high school in Japan, ultimately becoming a leading school in the province. Haiping Huang, first-prize winner in the adult category, described her experiences studying Japanese at university and teaching Japanese at a junior college. In spite of the fact that she grew up in an impoverished rural village, her life in education was made possible with the help of a Japanese company president. Although the company eventually went bankrupt, denying her the opportunity to express her thanks directly to the president, Haiping Huang described her determination to repay her debt by promoting Chinese-Japanese friendship and Japanese language education.

Attended by more than 200 students, teachers, and media officials from all over China

The Duan Press recently published Japanese Contributions to China, containing all 62 shortlisted entries, including those mentioned here. This volume is an excellent way to learn some of the views on Japan among the young people in China today.