By Danielle Smith

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With months of studying behind them, two teams of Japanese language students entered the Japan American Society of Hawaii’s annual Japan Wizards competition on Feb. 23. The A team placed third and, as the highest ranking public school, also won a summer trip to Japan.

“I think actually the competition was my favorite part. It was fun to represent our school and earn points and the activities we’re really fun too.” Sophomore Zachary Higa said.

In this competition, there were three rounds of questioning with two competing teams: A team, which consisted of first and second year Japanese students and B team, consisting of third and fourth year students. Since the competition is a mixture of both public and private schools, the highest scoring team in both public and private schools won a trip to Japan.

While preparing for the competition, students dedicated most of their time to studying. “On Sundays, we would have study sessions together. But then sometimes we would just study individually,” Higa said.

The two three-man teams were accompanied by their advisers, who worked to guide their students in their studies. “The best that we could do as advisers is guess-based on our past experiences and what types of questions might come up given the category that they give us,” said Japanese teacher and A team adviser Corey Zukeran. “Sometimes (the students) have more knowledge about things than we do anyways and it kind of helps.”

The B team faced the added challenge of having to compete with only two members. “They did really well for a team missing one person,” said B team adviser and Japanese teacher Lori Tsukamoto. Zukeran added, “The two who actually did compete put in a lot of time to do some extra studying in the other categories that the third person was supposed to have. They took on the extra responsibility to study those topics.”

The competition wasn’t only filled with difficulties, as students were able to enjoy their time there as well. Higa said, “I really enjoyed the activities because they were able to incorporate Japanese culture so that we were able to learn more about it.”  Tsukamoto added, “They had Gyotaku, which was a type of fish painting. They had jeopardy, but it wasn’t only Japanese culture but there were also some American questions thrown in there as well. They also did calligraphy and tea ceremonies and there was pictionary.”

The results of the competition came as a surprise for students and advisers alike. “I think both teams did very well and they should both be really proud of their scores.” Tsukamoto said. “The B team especially did as well as they could have done considering they didn’t have as much time to cover some of the things as they’d like to.”

Their extensive studying and determination paid off as the A team students begin to prepare themselves for their trip to Japan. “I’m excited for the trip to Japan. I’m excited to see any sight seeing places and also experience some of the culture and be there when we’re in Japan.”

This competition has made the students of the B team aim to shoot for a higher score next year, while the A team will continue to use this experience not only in the next competition, but in their Japanese classes as well.