My experience at the National Japan Bowl is more than worth sharing, because it was absolutelyunforgettable.

is national event, that brought students from all four corners of the country andbeyond, is one I can conﬁdently say I will remember for a long while, deﬁnitely throughout the rest of myyoung adulthood. I learned consistently throughout my journey competing. Mistakes made were lessons
learned, and something of value that I will keep close with me throughout my adult life. I also want tomention that my experience here was ‘grand’, not that regionals weren’t as fun, but nationals took it alittle step further with a place to stay on campus and many opportunities to explore and have a “collegelife experience.” I know that I appreciate this personally because I currently take Japanese through auniversity, per my schools method of teaching, so I already have a small taste of it what that’s like. I canconﬁrm that it is worth while for high schoolers, should they get the lucky chance to attend!
As a recap for those who don’t know yet, I come from a small school in Oregon, and our highschool doesn’t actually have many opportunities to take advanced classes or language classes, because theo ferings are limited. But luckily, my local university has a program for non-degree seeking students,
which does include high school students, to take classes (like Japanese). For me, this is huge, especiallybecause it doesn’t cost anything. Such an opportunity made this experience all the more worthwhile as I
had to work a bit harder to make the standards for this competition. As you could imagine, theeducations pace or lesson plan is slightly di ferent, much faster paced. None the less, thanks to the helpof many o ﬁcials and the Japan American society, this trip and experience was possible and I couldn’t be
more thankful.
I can’t say I was one of the top competitors at this competition despite my team and my own
e fort, but I know that this opportunity pushed us to go to great lengths, learning many great andwonderful things about both Japan, and even

e United States and our relationship with Japan.

iscompetition is not exclusive to only the highest of skill, but still provides testing di ﬁculty that pushes us
to reach those skill levels, which resulted in a exciting experience overall. Not only was this experience at
the National Japan Bowl exciting, but I have made numerous friends from di ferent schools around thecountry who made the event a permanent memory in my heart. Even among di ferent team levels, I felt
no barrier to whom I could socialize and make memories with. Coming from Oregon and having traveledaround the West Coast a few times, I felt connected to schools from either California or otherneighboring states. It’s nice to know those who seem so far, can feel so close.

at’s not to mention thesense of accomplishment and pride you feel being able to compete with those from across the nation
alongside you. The freedom to communicate with those from all around the country is an experience I
think everyone should seek, because I believe that having the chance to share your different backgrounds
and experiences, from possibly very different places, can provide a wonderful insight into life.
This diverse event leads me to believe that Japanese culture has more to offer than I first thought,
as I’ve learned many great things from Japan’s history and impact on the development of other nations
alongside it. This is without mentioning that America and Japan have an extensive history going backand forth from positive and negative, in the end leading to the best of both nations. Japan has a lot offascinating history, I have learned through my studies, and has shown me many things I grew fond of. As
an example, many great leaders who’ve overturned the “corrupt” for the best of the nation. Thanks to themany developmental growths they have faced, Japan has been able to grow a more in-depth economy andtrade/connection with other nations, like the U.S. There are many other things I learned to like andexperience that I will continue to explore. Thanks to this opportunity, I was given a drive, direction, path,and a lot of guidance towards learning.
I want to leave a special thanks to all who made this competition possible and for all the great
lengths they pushed for. All of the sponsors who pitched in, all of the leaders who helped organize, andeven all of the competitors who made this truly a thrilling competition. It was worth taking a chance atthis, even if I couldn’t compete among the top schools, I enjoyed watching and supporting those whoworked their hardest to make it there.
Additional thanks to organizer and sponsors of the pacific northwest regionals who allowed us to fly overand participate without costs. Without your sponsorship, I would not have had this opportunity. Because of yourwillingness to give us a chance, I was able to explore something I never thought I’d have the chance to. Thank you
Sakurauchi Sensei for teaching me Japanese, and thank you Kaoru Miyanaga for the flight accommodations andpreparations made for this trip to get me here. It was a pleasure to compete regionally, and you allowed me to takethings further. I was able to see many parts of Washington D.C. which I had only dreamed of, coming from theWest coast, and all. I saw live events that I hadn’t expected, I travelled to see monuments I wished to see from ayoung age, and not only that, but I got to experience this alongside my Mom (and some remaining cherryblossoms!). Thank you all for the amazing experience, and I hope everyone decides to take the chance andparticipate with all you have got. It’s worth it.