2021/01/12
At the 186th Yukichi Fukuzawa Birthday Commemoration Ceremony held on Sunday, January 10, the awards for the 45th Shinzo Koizumi Prize All-Japan High School Essay Contest were presented. This year, President Akira Haseyama presented the awards to the winners via an online broadcast, after which Hiroshi Hayakawa, President and CEO of Hayakawa Publishing Corporation, delivered his comments on behalf of the judges.
Usually, a reception is held after the commemoration ceremony for the winners, judges, and other related parties, but this year it was held online for the first time. Interactions took place via Zoom, including comments from the judges and greetings from the winners and their families.
In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of Dr. Shinzo Koizumi, who served as the President of Keio University from 1933 to 1947 and was also a distinguished writer, Keio University has been holding an essay contest for high school students nationwide since 1976. The purpose of the contest is to pass on Dr. Koizumi's character and achievements to future generations and to contribute to the improvement of young people's writing skills. This time, five essay topics were set, including "Competition and Cooperation," and submissions were accepted from May to August of last year, with 320 outstanding essays received from high school students across the country.
The winners are as follows.
The winning essays and the judges' comments are published in the January 2021 issue of "Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press)."
They are also scheduled to be posted on the Keio University website at a later date.
"Shinzo Koizumi Prize"
・Ryo Sato (Tokyo / Kaisei High School, 3rd year)
"Second Prize"
・Akari Yoshida (Tokyo / Tokyo Metropolitan Oushukan Secondary Education School, 5th year [equivalent to 2nd year of high school])
"Honorable Mention" (in alphabetical order)
・Moeko Tamura (Tokyo / Seijo Gakuen High School, 2nd year)
・Toko Matsuoka (Yamaguchi Prefecture / Yamaguchi Prefectural Hagi High School, 2nd year)
Shinzo Koizumi Prize All-Japan High School Essay Contest Results
Photo: Susumu Ishido, et al.