32nd Arizona Japanese Speech Contest

On Saturday April 5th, 2025, AzATJ continued our long-standing tradition with the 32nd Arizona Japanese Speech Contest. With this year’s theme being “World Explorers,” we encouraged speakers to share their own experiences diving into foreign cultures.

Held at Mesa Community College (also home of Arizona Gakuen) and attended by 38 participants and their supporters, this was our most competitive speech contest yet. These participants came from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleges and high schools around the valley and beyond. Practicing for days, weeks, and months, they all showed up to do their best.

We would like to congratulate the winners for the excellence they have shown with the Japanese language and the skill with which they use it.

Category	Award	Name	School
A	1st Place	Alexander Morales	ASU Preparatory Academy
	2nd Place	Rayna Shaik	Arizona State University
	3rd Place	Maddy Vaughn	Arizona State University
B-High School	1st Place	Alan Gasperin	Central High School
	2nd Place	Edison Butanda	Saguaro High School
B-College	1st Place	Aislynn Carpenter	Mesa Community College
	2nd Place	McKinley Sydnor	Northern Arizona University
C	1st Place	Umidjon Abdullajonov	University of Arizona
	2nd Place	Alejandro Quiros	Arizona State University
	3rd Place	Joseph Mabry	Mesa Community College
D	1st Place	Amanda Akyol	University of Arizona
	2nd Place	Aryn Jung	Highland High School
	Grand Prize	Amanda Akyol	University of Arizona
	Penmanship Prize	Hannah Stuart	Mesa Community College
	Judge's Special Award	Sebastian Fox	Northern Arizona University

Congratulations also go out to everyone who participated, as just having the courage and drive to practice and perform a speech in a foreign language is something to be proud of. We hope you use this experience as a catalyst to drive you towards future proficiency so that you can see the gifts that come with knowing Japanese.

Thank you goes out to our sponsors for making this event possible this and every year: Mesa Community College, Arizona State University, Japan Business Association of Arizona, Japan Foundation, Northern Arizona University, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Arizona.