Award Presentation for the 49th Shinzo Koizumi Prize All-Japan High School Essay Contest

2025/01/16

At the 190th Commemorative Ceremony for the Birth of Yukichi Fukuzawa, held on Friday, January 10, the awards ceremony for the 49th Shinzo Koizumi Prize All-Japan High School Essay Contest took place, where the winners were presented with certificates by President Kohei Ito. After the ceremony, the customary get-together was held for the winners, surrounded by members of the screening committee and other related individuals. The winners engaged in lively conversation, discussing topics such as what motivated them to enter the contest and the challenges they faced while writing, making it a valuable opportunity for the screening committee members and the winners to interact directly.

Since 1976, Keio University has held this essay contest for high school students nationwide to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of Dr. Shinzo Koizumi, who served as the President of Keio University from 1933 to 1947 and was also a distinguished writer. Its purpose is to pass on the character and achievements of Dr. Koizumi to future generations and to contribute to the improvement of young people's writing and expressive skills. This year, six essay topics were set, including "A World Without Social Media." Submissions were accepted from May to August of last year, and 194 outstanding essays were received from high school students across the country.

The winners are as follows:

The winning essays and the comments from the screening committee can be viewed here .

"Shinzo Koizumi Prize"

・Kenshin Fukuda (N High School [Private], 2nd year, Okinawa Prefecture)

"Second Prize"

・Takayoshi Harashima (Keio Senior High School [Private], 3rd year, Kanagawa Prefecture)

"Honorable Mention" (in alphabetical order by surname)

・Hana Konaka (Den-en Chofu Futaba High School [Private], 2nd year, Tokyo Metropolis)

・Taito Tanaka (Seifu High School [Private], 2nd year, Osaka Prefecture)

・Hitoe Nomura (Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School [Private], 2nd year, Kyoto)

Shinzo Koizumi Prize All-Japan High School Essay Contest Results

Commemorative photo (from left): Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Harashima, Mr. Fukuda, Ms. Konaka, Ms. Nomura

Commemorative photo (Front row, from left: Ms. Nomura, Mr. Harashima, Mr. Fukuda, Ms. Konaka, Mr. Tanaka; Back row, from left: Ms. Tomoko Machida [Executive Director, The Promotion Council for Characters and Typeface Culture], Professor Yoshifumi Konishi, Professor Masamichi Ogawara, Mr. Hiroshi Hayakawa [President and CEO, Hayakawa Publishing Corporation], Vice-President Juro Iwatani, Associate Professor Tomoko Koita, Professor Kazuhiro Taniguchi)

Photos by: Aki Takematsu and others