Participants and winners of the public speaking contest in Japanese language hosted by the Japanese Embassy.

Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Norihiro Okuda hosted the 8th Japanese Language Speech Contest in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Japan-Saudi Arabia diplomatic relationship.

The event, held under the two countries’ Ministries of Culture and Information here recently, saw 13 male and female participants from various regions of the Kingdom.

The topics were ‘Japan and Saudi Arabia’ and ‘Japan that I love’ that showcased fluent Japanese speeches by Saudi participants.

“This is the eighth Japanese Language Speech Contest; but until the fourth contest, it was only among the students of the Japanese language course of King Saud University,” said the envoy.

Three years ago, the contest was expanded to the public, and attracted participants with different backgrounds, he said, adding that he was happy to see a number of female participants this year.

“Currently, more than 600 Saudi students are studying in Japan, and those who finished their studies there are now playing important roles in various fields in Saudi Arabia such as politics, economy, medical, science, technology and education.

“We will do our best to increase the number of people who are interested in Japan and will be the bridge between the two countries. We will also try hard to enhance Japanese language studies in the Kingdom.”

The first prize in the standard level category went to Cheblal Mohammed while female contestant Izzat Al-Ansari received the second prize.

For the advanced level, Mohammmed Alabdrabalnabi won the first prize and Baloosh Al-Yazeed bagged the second prize.

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