The Sino-Japanese Fellowship Student Presentation Contest was held at the Chinese Consulate in Niigata Prefecture on June 11th, 2023, marking the 45th anniversery of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. 14 teams from universities in the four prefectures in the operational area of the consulate (Niigata, Yamagata, Fukushima, and Miyagi) participated, and two teams from Tohoku University won first and second place.

The First Place Team:
Team Name: 友好使者SKK (Yuuko Shisha SKK)
4th Year Engineering Student: Kahori Hata
4th Year Literature Student: Sae Katagiri
1st Year Law Student: Koshi Minamide
Instructor: Yao Yao

This team chose to talk about the “Ryuichi Sakamoto boom in China,” and gave a presentation about Ryuichi Sakaomoto’s life and work and the legacy of the effect of his work on Sino-Japanese relations.

Second Place Team:
Team Name: 東北三坑(Tohoku Sankan)
4th Year Science Student: Sako Sunami
2nd Year Engineering Student: Hayate Wada
1st Year Englineering Student: Yumi Abe
Instructor: Xiaorong Zhang

This team chose the theme of the “three pitfalls” (three types of fashion that are so popular in amongst the young in China that they are almost addictive: high school uniforms, lolita clothing, and Chinese clothing). They gave a presentation about how the three pitfalls are a key for Chinese and Japanese people to understand each others’ cultures and how this is an important starting point fo the next generation of young people who will carry on cultural exchange in the future.

The six winners in the two teams will be invited to visit China for cultural exchange this September.