Ajinomoto Europe S.A.S.

AJINOMOTO EUROPE S.A.S. supports The 1st Japanese Speech Contest at “La Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris”

AJINOMOTO EUROPE S.A.S. was very pleased of being one of the main sponsors of the 1st Japanese Speech Contest held at “La Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris” on March 3rd 2007.

In his opening message Mr. Fumihiko Yamada, Minister in charge of Culture & Information at the Japanese Embassy in France, underlined that as the number of people learning Japanese in France is constantly growing, such an event was an excellent occasion to further promote the teaching of Japanese and that it would surely contribute to reinforcing the friendship between Japan and France.

Candidates from 15 to 67 years old of age came from almost all the regions of France. It shows how the interest in learning Japanese is largely extended in France both in terms of generation and geography.

The contestants were divided in two groups.

Front: Mr. Yamada (Minister, Japanese Embassy in France), Mr.Nakagawa (President, MCJP)
and the 1st prize winners

In the First Group, for finalists from Junior-high and high school students under 18, most of the contestants addressed issues around eccentric social phenomena such as “visual” oriented rock groups, “costume play” fans and “Otaku” population highlighting the great impact Japanese pop culture has on the young generation.
The 1st prize went to Mr. Alexis Bernard, a high school student from Lyon, who made a remarkable speech on the influence of religion on lifestyle in Japan.

Mr. Vrillon congratulates the
1st prize winners

The 2nd group’s contestants, consisting of finalists over 18 years old, on the other hand, where more inclined to comparing Japanese culture or mentality with those of European people. They expressed their appreciation of Japanese culture or Japanese people, based on their personal experiences in Japan or their acquaintances with Japanese people in France or in other foreign countries. Of course, all speeches were made in Japanese. The level of speech was quite extraordinary for the candidates, in all, hadn’t stayed in Japan for more than 6 months, requirement compulsory for participation. Many of them never even visited Japan before.

The winners (Ms. Danielle Dauphin, Mr. Yang Chen and Mr. Vincent Guerin) received warm congratulations from Mr. Alain Vrillon, Vice-President of AJINOMOTO EUROPE S.A.S. sponsoring their dreamed trip to Japan.

2007, 12 March

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