10th Annual Tucson Japanese Speech Contest at Pima Community College East campus, community room in Student Center Building, 8181 E. Irvington Road

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Exhibitions: 12:00 – 4:00

Opening Ceremony: 12:30 – 1:00

Speech Presentations (Category A): 1:00 – 1:20

10 Minute Break

Japanese Traditional Dance by Suzuyuki-Kai: 1:30 – 1:50
Audience Contest

Speech Presentations (Category B, Group 1): 2:00 – 2:20

15 Minute Break

Karate Demonstration by Rendokan Dojo: 2:35 – 3:00
Audience Contest

Speech Presentations (Category B, Group 2): 3:05 – 3:25
Audience Contest

15 Minute Break

Speech Presentations (Category C): 3:40 – 4:10

Taiko Performance by Odaiko Sonora: 4:15 – 4:40

Awards Ceremony: 4:45 – 5:00

I’ve been to this fun event to learn more about my own Japanese culture for the past two years. There will be exhibitions on Kyudo (Japanese Archery), Igo (Japanese Chess), Origami, Furoshiki Wrapping, Temari (Folk Art), Calligraphy, Cosplay, Anime, Aikido, and more!

Information on the previous 9 speech contests: Southern Arizona Association for Japanese Education: http://www.saaje.org/page4contest.html, TucsonJSC@cox.net. The Japan Foundation partially funded this event.

Learn “The Art of Peace”, traditional Iwama-style aikido, at Aikido at The Center, 3100 N. Stone Ave. I took a self-defense class (with aikido principles) decades ago in college, and recently watched a demonstration by an aikido group at the 8th Annual Japanese speech contest.

Aikido at The Center (from their website)

“Aikido is not primarily a system of combat, but rather a means of self-cultivation and improvement. Aikido has no tournaments, competitions, contests, or “sparring.” Instead, all aikido techniques are learned cooperatively at a pace commensurate with the abilities of each trainee. According to the founder, the goal of aikido is not the defeat of others, but the defeat of the negative characteristics which inhabit one’s own mind and inhibit its functioning.” (from their website)

To find out more, log onto www.aikidoatthecenter.org, or call 520-887-3986 or drop by for a free class at their dojo. This group was at the February Tucson Peace Fair and believes: “The goal of aikido is to neutralize aggression rather than increase it.”

Adult aikido class schedule:
Mondays–5:30-6:30 pm
Wednesdays–5:30-6:30 pm
Thursday–12:00 pm-1:00 pm
Thursday evenings–5:30-6:30 pm (beginning and advanced weapons)
Sundays–9:00-10:00 am–advanced class (1st and 3rd Sundays only)

“If you are grounded and centered, you can’t make a bad decision” — Sensei Judith Robinson pictured above on the left, with a partner.

I was truly amazed yesterday at how fluent the PCC and U of A students were who competed in the 8th Annual Japanese speech contest, put on by the Southern Arizona Association for Japanese Education (SAAJE). This event was held at the lovely PCC Northwest Campus, 7600 N. Shannon Road. Besides the speech contest, there were numerous Japanese cultural exhibits and demonstrations as well (ikebana, go, koi, anime, origami, taiko, aikido, calligraphy, furoshiki wrapping, swords, etc.)

For more info about this annual contest, click here for my previous blog article announcing this event last week.

The 2010 winners were:

Category A (1st semester)
1st Place: Amanda Hansen, University of Arizona
2nd Place: Claire Tatman, University of Arizona
3rd Place: Gabriel Williams, PCC West Campus
Special: Emmanuel Aceves, PCC West Campus

Category B (2nd semester)
1st Place: Zhuyan Li, University of Arizona
2nd Place: Kiyono Bernier, PCC Northwest Campus
3rd Place: Michael Cavalier, PCC Northwest Campus

Category C (3rd and 4th semesters)
1st Place: Patrick Murphy, PCC Northwest Campus
2nd Place: Samantha Sharp, University of Arizona
3rd Place: Clinton Wester, PCC Northewest Campus
Special: Alexis Bruce, PCC Northwest Campus
Special: Jared Pettitt, PCC Northwest Campus

The Special awards were given for particularly creative or difficult pieces. All winners received a trophy and a package of prizes. Many contestants spoke of having visited or lived in Japan, with life goals to do so again.

Congratulations to all these winners (and to all who dared to enter), their instructors, and to Chair Yosei Sugawara, for such a well organized, cultural and language art event.

All I can say is that these students put Sansei (3rd generation Japanese Americans) like me, who have studied a little Japanese, to shame. These students had to stand up in front of a large audience and speak memorized Japanese (and many did it fluently). I doubt I could have done that in Spanish while attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Sayonara– till the 9th annual speech contest.