Ada Martin ‘23 won grand prize at the 2022 Toyama Cup: the 26th Japanese Speech Contest on April 23.
Martin spoke to the audience about sustainability. She shared her experience of seemingly contradicting Japanese practices regarding sustainability: separating trash into many categories and overwrapping. The convoluted trash categories gave her hope that each person can contribute to sustainability. The overwrapping customs taught her the importance of understanding cultural contexts in translating environmental science articles. Martin’s speech touched many members of the audience.
The Toyama Cup Japanese Language Speech Contest is sponsored by the Toyama Prefectural Government and the Japan-America Society of Oregon (JASO) in celebration of the Toyama-Oregon sister-state affiliation. The first Toyama Cup in 1996 commemorated the fifth anniversary of the friendship between the peoples of Oregon and Toyama. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Toyama-Oregon sister-state relationship. The Toyama Cup is open to any student studying Japanese at a college or university in the State of Oregon and southwest Washington. Contestants are judged on general Japanese language ability, speech content and presentation.