International Essay Contest for Young People 2020 in Japan: (Deadline 15 June 2020)

Applications are open for the International Essay Contest for Young People 2020. Interested candidates can apply for the competition until 15th June 2020.

Theme

“A Letter from Myself in 2030”

Imagine what an ideal world ten years from now would be like. Write a letter from yourself in 2030 to your present (2020) self, in which you describe the state of the world, the way people are living, and what you, yourself, are doing in society. In addition, include any important message that you might wish to tell your present self.

Awards

• 1st Prize: Certificate, a prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$900 as of Feb. 2020) and gift … 1 entrant
• 2nd Prize: Certificate, a prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$450 as of Feb. 2020) and gift … 2 entrants
• 3rd Prize: Certificate and gift … 5 entrants
• Honorable Mention: Certificate and gift … 25 entrants
• Furthermore, the organizers will invite the 1st prize winners to the award ceremony to be held in Tokyo, Japan in November 2020 and will receive the Minister of Education Award. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizer.)
• Additional awards (Recognition for Effort, Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given
  if applicable.
• The organizers will announce all prize winners on October 31, 2020 (Japan time).
• Furthermore, they will mail the certificates and gifts to the winners in December 2020.

Requirements

• Anyone can submit the essay up to 25 years old (as of June 15, 2020) in one of the following age categories: a) Children (ages up to 14) b) Youth (ages 15 – 25)
• Additionally, essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German, or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, excluding essay title and cover page. Moreover, the applicants may type or print the essays.
• Entries submitted by postal mail must include a cover page  indicating
  (1) name (2) category (Children or Youth) (3) age as of June 15, 2020 (4) gender
  (5) nationality (6) address (7) e-mail (8) phone number (9) school name (if applicable)
  (10) your essay title (11) language (12) word count.
• Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
• Additionally, one person should write essays. The organizers do not accept Co-authored essays.
• Furthermore, the copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer.