Presented by the Japan-America Society of Washington DC

2013 NATIONAL JAPAN BOWL

®

REPORT National Japanese Language & Culture

Competition for American High School Students

1819 L Street NW, Level B2 Washington DC 20036

Japan-America Society

of Washington DC

第21回 全米ジャパンボウル大会

Tel (202) 833-2210 Fax (202) 833-2456 www.jaswdc.org

2013 National Japan Bowl®

On April 11 and 12, 2013, the Japan-America Society of Washington DC (JASW) held the 21th

National Japan Bowl®

in Washington, DC. This year, 202 students in 70 teams came from all over the

United States: California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Kentucky, Maryland,

Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Students competed at three different levels in a total of three rounds (two Preliminary Rounds and one

Conversation Round.) In the Preliminary Rounds, they were challenged by a total of 100 questions at

each level, covering a wide range of topics including not just Japanese language but also history,

geography, culture, current events, and US-Japan relations. After the preliminary rounds and

conversation round, the top three teams at each level advanced to the National Championship Round.

The results are shown on page 4.

On the first night, all participants were welcomed at the Opening Ceremony. They then enjoyed a

shakuhachi performance by Yosuke Irie and a cultural presentation by the Koshigaya City

Culture Federation. On the second day, they had the chance to meet Maki Kaji, the “Godfather of

Sudoku,” shogi master Madoka Kitao, Kihachiro Nishimura, and enjoy a taiko performance by

Tamagawa University Dance and Taiko Group.

Deputy Chief of Mission Koji Tomita and Nobuko Sasae, the wife of the Japanese Ambassador, came to

the Championship Rounds and presented prizes during the awards ceremony. The 1st place winners at

LV 4 were awarded a trip to Japan.

「ジャパン・ボウル」とは、全米各地で日本語を学んでいる高校生が日本語能力のみならず、日本の文

化・習慣・歴史・地理・時事・日米関係など、幅広い分野について競い合う全米大会です。アメリカで

日本語を学ぶ高校生を支援する教育活動の一環として毎年春に開催され、日本語学習を楽しみ、日本へ

の関心を更に高め、大学においても日本語学習を継続してもらうことが目的です。

第21回ジャパン・ボウル全米大会は4月11日・12日の2日間にわたって開催され、グアムからコネチカット

まで70チーム・202名の生徒が参加しました。今年は尺八奏者の入江要介氏や埼玉県越谷市文化連盟によ

るパフォーマンス、女流将棋士の北尾まどか氏や西浦スタイルの西浦喜八郎氏、数独のゴッドファザー

として知られる鍛治真起氏によるワークショップ、玉川大学による太鼓のパフォーマンスなどが行われ

ました。冨田浩司特命全権公使と、佐々江信子駐米大使夫人も訪れ、表彰授与式にて賞品の授与を行い

ました。

Thursday, April 11 2:00-5:00pm Registration 5:30-5:45pm Dinner 5:40-6:45pm Opening Ceremony 7:00-8:00pm Preliminary Round 1 8:00-8:15pm Review of Answers 8:30-10:00pm Evening Get-Together Friday, April 12 7:00-8:30am Breakfast 8:00-10:00am Conversation Rounds 8:30-10:00am Teachers Workshop

10:15-11:15am Preliminary Round 2 11:15-11:30am Review of Answers 11:30-12:30pm Lunch 12:30-1:30pm Cultural Workshop/Event 1:45-2:00pm Announcement of Finalists 2:00-2:30pm Championship Round –Level II 2:40-3:10pm Championship Round –Level III 3:20-3:50pm Championship Round –Level IV 4:00-5:00pm Awards and Closing Ceremony 5:15 pm Tamagawa University Taiko

2013 National Japan Bowl Schedule

参加生徒・参加校

School Names State

Apple Valley High School MN

Boonsboro High School MD

Brien McMahon High School CT

Central High School MD

Cupertino High School CA

Deerfield Beach High School FL

Eastern High School KY

Edina High School MN

Eleanor Roosevelt High School MD

George Washington High School VA

Hayfield Secondary School VA

High Point High School MD

Kempsville High School VA

Kennedy High School IO

Lake Braddock Secondary School VA

Langley High School VA

Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School TX

Long Beach Polytechnic High School CA

Lynbrook High School CA

Monta Vista High School CA

Murray High School UT

Oakton High School VA

Ocean Lanes High School VA

Philips Academy MA

Robert Louis Stevenson School CA

Scott County High School KY

Silver Creek High School CA

South Lakes High School VA

Southwest High School MN

St. Albans High School DC

St. John’s School GU

The Woodlands High School TX

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology VA

Townsend Harris High School NY

Walt Whitman High School MD

West Springfield High School VA

Participating Students: 202

Level 2: 72 Level 3: 63 Level 4: 72

Participating Teams: 70

Level 2: 25 Level 3: 20 Level 4: 25

全米チャンピオン・上位5校 Finalists and Champions at the 2013 National Japan Bowl

Level 2 1st place Cupertino High School, California Yukari Salazar

Esther Hsu, Abigail Tan, Scott Tatsuta Teacher

2nd place Lynbrook High School, California Kumi Kobayashi Sohee Yoon, Julia Jin, Leigh Williams Teacher

3rd place Townsend Harris High School, New York Mariko Saito-Burger Allegra Santo, Kit-Sum Wu, YanYing Ji Teacher 4th place Walt Whitman High School, Maryland Yukiyo Moorman Dong Eun Lim, Kate Schwichtenburg, Adam Klein Teacher

5th place Philips Academy, Massachusetts Michael Stein

William Casagrande, Marlene Ortega, Harry Wright Teacher

Level 3

1st place Thomas Jefferson High School Koji Otani for Science and Technology, Virginia Teacher Hye Lim Chang, Emily Zhou, Christine Tsou

2nd place Lynbrook High School , California Kumi Kobayashi Jessica Lin, Kristin Chen, Chole Lyu Teacher 3rd place Cupertino High School, California Yukari Salazar Natalie Yuen, Eugene Pak, Chao Ping Lai Teacher 4th place The Woodlands High School, Texas Mayumi Reade

Kelsey Ishimoto, Axel Vernon-Galindo Teacher

5th place Liberal Arts and Science Academy, Texas David Shimizu

Carolina Shi, Zoey Foley, Shannon Plunkett Teacher

Level 4

1st place Monta Vista High School, California Hiroko Nagai and Chi Yu Liu, Sze Chieh Chen, Erin Dowd Keiko Howard, Teachers

2nd place Thomas Jefferson High School Koji Otani for Science and Technology, Virginia Teacher Seon-Young Lee, Colton Sears, Ian Lin 3rd place Cupertino High School Yukari Salazar

Emily Shung, Sophia Seohyun Jung, Hyewan Kim Teacher

4th place Lynbrook High School, California Kumi Kobayashi Amy Wei, Jessica Cao, Rachel Song Teacher

5th place Liberal Arts and Science Academy, Texas David Shimizu Joanne-Jo Gregory, Ji-Woon Park, Trey Gousoulin

先生 Japan Bowl Teachers

We would especially like to thank all of the Japanese language teachers, without whom the 2013 National Japan Bowl would not have been possible.

Keiko Abrams, Lake Braddock Secondary School

Dan Carolin, Kennedy High School

William Collazo, Deerfield Beach High School

Mayumi Hino, Ocean Lakes High School

Keiko Howard, Monta Vista High School

Kotoe Ito, Central High School

Elena Kamenetzky, Eastern High School

Yumiko Kato, Kempsville High School

Jeremy Kitchen, Lynbrook High School

Kumi Kobayashi, Lynbrook High School

Jonathan Lawless, Oakton High School

Sharon Leigg, George Washington High School

Yukiyo Moorman, Walt Whitman High School

Tomoko Moses, Murray High School

Shinobu Nagashima, Robert Louis Stevenson School

Tetsu Ogawa, Eleanor Roosevelt High School

Koji Otani, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

Nathan Patton, Scott County High School

Adam Podell, South Lakes High School

Masumi Reade, The Woodlands High School

Yukari Salazar, Cupertino High School

Mariko Sato– Berger, Townsend Harris High School

Andrew Scronce, Langley High School

Ayako Shiga, Boonsboro High School

David Shimizu, Liberal Arts and Science Academy

Keiko Sigmund, Brien McMahon High School

Michael Stein, Philips Academy

Mano Takegami, Silver Creek High School

Yoko Thakur, West Springfield High School

Kyoko VauTaghan, Hayfield Secondary School

Taeko Wu, St. Albans High School

Fumiko Wakabayashi, High Point High School

Fumiko Harada Ziemer, St. John's School

Laura Moy, Apple Valley High School

Naomi Satoh, Edina High School

Kyoko French, Southwest High School

Keiko Tsuryumi Kirby, Long Beach Polytechnic High School

Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. IACE Travel

ITOCHU International Inc. Mitsui & Co. (USA), Inc. The “Global 30” Project

The Naganuma School—Tokyo School of Japanese Language

The University of Tokyo TK Holdings Inc.

University of Tsukuba Washington CORE

All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. City of Tokyo

Concordia Language Villages Japan National Tourism Organization

Kamada America Kanagawa Office in Maryland

Nao and Mariko Magami Nikoli Co., Ltd.

The City of Yokohama Tuttle Publishing

White Rabbit Press

Japan Bowl Sponsors and Supporters

Every year the Japan Bowl is supported by various sources of funding. The major resources have been grants. The

US-Japan Foundation started its funding in 1996 and has played a major role to make the Japan Bowl’s growth possible. The Japan-America Society of Washington DC expresses its appreciation also to The Hiroko Iwami Malott Memorial fund for its support of this year’s National Japan Bowl. In addition, JASW is grateful to the following sponsors and supporters who made this year’s competition possible.

Moderators Sachiko Beeman Anna Cable Yuko Floyd Kaori Hunter Dan Jodarski Ken Kurokawa Tracy Mahoney

Marilyn Meyers Makio Motohashi Hideko Muratani Audrey Nevitt Noriko Onoguchi Robert Reis Ben Rentler Martha Rosacker Mami Sone Katheryn Stevens Laura Symborski Robin White Joelle Williams Sheila Zhu

American Honda Motor Company Marubeni America Corporation

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America Mitsubishi International Corporation

Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems, Inc. Sumitomo Corporation of America

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

Gold Sponsors

Monitors Josephine Chiao Soonmin Gwag Julie Gross Julia Hara Alex Hegerle Ai Hirano Jun Hogan Joan Hubbard Carleigh Johnson Yuko Koga Joyce Lee Sang-mi McHale Scott Melewski

Special Guests Yosuke Irie Maki Kaji Madoka Kitao Koshigaya City Culture Federation Kihachiro Nishiura Tamagawa University Dance and Taiko Group

T-Shirt Design Risa Kamio Amy Locke Cover and Poster Design Eunice Choi Photographer Gregg Adams

Sponsors

Sakura Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Special Judges Maki Kaji Madoka Kitao Kihachiro

Nishiura Masato Otaka Tsunehiko Yanagihara

Tamagawa University Dance and Taiko Group

Tamagawa University, located just outside of

Tokyo, has been taking its taiko drumming and dance troupe on the road since 1961. One of the top taiko groups in Japan, they won third place in competition against 450 other groups

at the Tokyo International Taiko Contest in 2006. The group is led by a great Kabuki-dance

master, Isaburo Hanayagi.

Madoka Kitao

Mrs. Madoka Kitao is the CEO of Nekomado Co., Ltd to promote Shogi as more enjoyable and player-friendly game in the new world.

She fell in love with Shoji because is because the universe of Shogi is unlimited where you can create an unique world with your own will and strategies. Madoka Kitao

was excited to share her passion for the game at this year’s Japan Bowl.

Kihachiro Nishiura Kihachiro Nishiura is a descendant of Nishiura Enji, the founder of the Nishiura-yaki school of ceramics, which was highly acclaimed in the

Meiji Era. Kihachiro expresses Japanese culture and arts in his own unique style, which is based

on the ancient philosophy of Eki, a concept central to the inevitability of change. Through the

incense ceremony, he explained the basic customs and how to “listen" to incense by smelling and appreciating the flagrance. "Listening" to the incense also brings a heightened sense of self-awareness.

We would also like to thank all the wonderful guests at the 2013 National Japan Bowl, who came to share their knowledge of Japan

with all of this year’s participants.

This year’s special guests included:

Koshigaya City Culture Federation

Koshigaya City Culture Federation was established in January 1970 to oversee

the multitude of cultural organizations in Koshigaya, in order to promote cooperation between them, and to contribute to the improvement of civic culture. The

Federation strives to nurture and enhance the organization and it also has played a central role as a base for spreading the variety of cultural activities for

many years.

Godfather of Sudoku, Mr Maki Kaji

数独の父 鍛治真紀

Maki Kaji is one of the founders of the Japanese-

based logic puzzle company, Nikoli Co. Ltd. Mr Kaji created the name of the world famous puzzle Sudoku.

He explained how we can create crosswords and about how the most important part is creating the clues. He engaged the audience and rewarded

students with prizes from his company, Nikoli Co., Ltd.

We would also like to thank all the wonderful guests of the 2013 National Japan Bowl, who came to share their knowledge of Japan

with all of this year’s participants.

This year’s special guests included:

Yosuke Irie

Yosuke Irie started performing shakuhachi when he was young. He won the 1st Prize in Shakuhachi

Honkyoku Competition, Japanese Folk Song Association Prize, Japan International Arts

Association Music Competition and many other competitions. He has performed overseas

in San Francisco, Mexico, Greece, UK and many other countries.

The Japan-America Society

of Washington DC

Honorary Patron of the Japan Bowl

Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado

Honorary Patron of the Japan-America Society

His Excellency Kenichiro Sasae, Ambassador of Japan to the United States

Honorary Chairman The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta

Chairman Emeritus William T. Breer

Officers

Ambassador Rust M. Deming, Chairman

Tsunehiko Yanagihara, Vice Chairman

Ambassador John R. Malott, President and CEO

Peter Bass, Secretary & Treasurer

Advisors

Minister Masato Otaka, Embassy of Japan

Marc E. Knapper, US Department of State

Katsuhiko Ichikawa, Central Japan Railway Company

Charles Jones, Lockheed Martin

Tetsuo Kadoya, Toshiba America, Inc.

Akemi Kawano

Chiyo Kobayashi, Washington CORE

Yoshiharu Naoki, All Nippon Airways

Takashi Ohde, Hitachi, Ltd.

Torkel Patterson, US-Japan MAGLEV, LCC

Masamutsu Shinozaki, Mitsui & Co. (USA), Inc.

Dr. Sheila Smith, Council on Foreign Relations

Terry Terasawa, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ,

Ltd.

Tsunehiko Yanagihara, Mitsubishi International

Corporation

Trustees

Isamu Akiyama, ITOCHU International, Inc.

Dr. Michael Auslin, American Enterprise Institute

Peter Bass, Promontory Financial Group LLC

Dr. Kent Calder, Johns Hopkins University

Peter Cleveland, Intel Corporation

Ambassador Rust M. Deming, Johns Hopkins University, SAIS

Shin Donowaki, Sumitomo Corporation of America

Glen Fukushima, Center for American Progress

Matthew Goodman, Center for Strategic and

International Studies

Nobutoshi Hanai, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America

Inc.

Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, McLarty Associates

Japan Bowl Committee Japan Bowl Staff

Robin Berrington Ambassador John R. Malott, President & CEO

Margaret Breer Marc Hitzig, Executive Director

Yoko Lawless Risa Kamio, Japan Bowl Director

Michiko Noguchi Amy Locke, Japan Bowl Assistant

Noriko Otsuka Sydney Sparrow, Japan Bowl Assistant

Marlene Sakaue Taylor Brown, Intern