Nihongo Presentation Fest

NihonGO! PRESENTATION FEST

This page will be progressively updated with the 2026 contest information in the coming weeks.

Poster is available for download (TBC)

This is a contest by The Japan Foundation, Sydney that gives Japanese language users in Australia the opportunity to present their messages by using Japanese.

Presentation skills are indispensable for people with different ideas to exchange opinions and thoughts to understand each other. Especially in today’s world with advanced technologies, it has become common to use images and videos as well as words to convey messages. By communicating in this way, you can cross language barriers and reach a wider audience for mutual understanding in the world.

CONTEST FORMAT

Entries should be made directly to The Japan Foundation, Sydney. There are no state/territory level contests as a pre-requirement.

The contestant must be able to send a message to not only Japanese language users, but also to those who don’t know Japanese by using methods other than language itself.
The presentation must include a human voice speaking Japanese (artificial human voice is unacceptable), however the supporting contents don’t have to be in Japanese.

The Presentation Topic for 2026 is OUR ROLE IN STRENGTHENING THE AUSTRALIA-JAPAN PARTNERSHIP

DIVISIONS

High School Senior Division (Year 11 and 12)
Open Division

HOW TO ENTER

Read the guidelines for details
Record your presentation in a video
Upload it to YouTube
Submit your entry form

Entries close on July 20 (Mon), 2026.

Below are the 2025 contest winners

2025 High School Senior Division

The 1st Prize Winner (*video unavailable)

The 2nd Prize Winner

The 3rd Prize Winner

Sponsors:

Prize	Name	Presentation Title
1st	Yulin Deng (James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW)	Technology for Our Future World
2nd	Sneha Mariam Joe (Craigslea State High School, QLD)	The Future World And You
3rd	Hercules Chen (James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW)	Better Public Transport

1st Prize: Technology for Our Future World: The presentation proposed a solution to the environmental issues we face: “If we apply artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to the development of renewable energy, with the power of science and technology, we can overcome environmental problems just as we have reduced infectious diseases.” It concluded by emphasizing that global cooperation is essential to make this possible. The presentation also highlighted a range of innovative robots nearing practical implementation, making it persuasive and fitting for the topic of this contest.

2nd Prize: The Future World and You: This presentation asserted that for a better future society, everyone must become a better person, introducing five practical approaches to positive mindset and healthy habits. It began with a quotation from a famous pop singer, then bolstered its argument with supportive information drawn from a wide array of sources, enhancing its credibility and persuasive power.

3rd Prize: Better Public Transport: Focusing on delays in public transport, this presentation suggested learning from Japan’s punctual systems. It incorporated well-collected numerical data comparing Germany, Sydney, and Japan, and made effective use of visual aids, making the argument clear and reinforcing the proposal.

2025 Open Division

The 1st Prize Winner

The 2nd Prize Winner

The 3rd Prize Winner

Sponsors:

Prize	Name	Presentation Title
1st	Crystal Coleman-Cox (TAS)	Multilingualism is the Future
2nd	Raymond Yeung (NSW)	My Suggestion for Our Future World
3rd	Richard Zhou (UNSW, NSW)	People need to choose gratitude and kindness more

1st Prize: Multilingualism is the Future: This presentation skilfully conveyed the significance of learning languages beyond English, using both numerical data and personal experience in a clear and engaging way. The presenter’s Japanese was easy to understand, which further enhanced the overall quality. The hand-drawn visuals by the presenter were clear and thoughtfully designed, especially for people who may only speak English. A presenter well-versed in Japanese delivering a message in Japanese perfectly embodies the festival’s spirit of “transcending language barriers.”

2nd Prize: My Suggestion for Our Future World: Starting with a thought-provoking question, “Though social media and AI have enriched and facilitated our lives, haven’t they weakened our ability to think independently?”—this presentation proposed several solutions like “learning using technology, thinking deeply, and questioning ‘why.’” The structure, visuals, and delivery were all clear and effective, making for a strong presentation.

3rd Prize: People Need to Choose Gratitude and Kindness More: Drawing from personal experience, while recovering from depression and its complications triggered by a tragic incident, this presenter advocated for cultivating kindness and gratitude toward others and oneself to build a happier future. Although the visual materials were simple, the authenticity and sincerity of their personal delivery carried powerful persuasive weight.

2025 Special Prize

Sponsored by TFE Hotels

Name	Presentation Title
Fangning Chen (James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW)	The First Sound of the Future

This presentation, entered in the High School Division, delivered a powerful message that “Vocaloid should be more appreciated as a future medium of artistic expression.” The message was conveyed through skilfully crafted visuals and sound effects. We awarded this special prize in recognition of the thoughtful use of supplementary information, such as engaging questions that resonated emotionally with the audience and impactful anecdotes, as well as the variety of expressive techniques employed throughout.

Guidelines (TBC)

2025 NihonGO! Presentation Fest

1. Aim of Contest and Background

This is a contest for Japanese language users in Australia to present their messages by using Japanese.

2. Contest Format

Entries should be made directly to The Japan Foundation, Sydney. There is no state/territory level contest as the pre-requirement.

The contestant must be able to send a message to not only Japanese language users but also to those who don’t know Japanese, by using methods other than language as well.

The presentation must include a human voice speaking Japanese (artificial human voice is unacceptable), however the supporting contents don’t have to be in Japanese.

Some examples are:

To add captions in English while speaking Japanese
To show key words of the presentation in English
To utilise visual materials, e.g. PowerPoint, photos, videos, sign language…etc.

Divisions:

The Presentation Contest has two categories. These are:

High School Senior Division (Individual or Group)
Open Division (Individual or Group)

Topic of Presentation: The topic for the 2025 contest is SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR FUTURE WORLD

Entrants are not allowed to use the same presentation which has been made and entered into any other contests.

Length of Presentation (Time Limit):

High School Senior Division: 5 minutes

Open Division: 5 minutes

3.Conditions of Entry

High School Senior Division

This Division is open to students in Year 11 and 12:

Contestants must be studying/have studied Japanese as a foreign language
Contestants may be studying/have studied Japanese as their heritage language
Contestants can be at any level of Japanese language proficiency
Contestants may have visited or lived in Japan for any length of time
Both individual entries or group entries are allowed. There is no limit to the number of people in one group.
No contestants may appear in both individual and group entries.
Identical presentations cannot be made by a different individuals/groups from the same school or institution.

Open Division

This Division is open to anyone aged 17 or above who are no longer high school students:

Contestants must be studying/have studied Japanese as a foreign language
Contestants may be studying/have studied Japanese as their heritage language
Contestants can be at any level of Japanese language proficiency
Contestants may have visited or lived in Japan for any length of time
Both individual entries or group entries are allowed. There is no limit to the number of people in one group.
No contestants may appear in both individual and group entries.
Identical presentations cannot be made by a different individuals/groups from the same institution or organisation.

4. Judging Criteria & Judges

Message 50% (message/topic/contestant’s views are clear, interesting, attracting and convincing)

Effects 20% (supporting contents are linked well with the message, and are also appealing and effective)

Structure 20% (presentation structure is well balanced and easy to follow)

Language 10% (Audiences should be able to understand the presentation even with possible errors in vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation)

The presentation should be recorded clearly in the video.
Please be mindful of the time limit.

5. Prizes

To be announced on the contest webpage.

6. Date and Venue

The Presentation Contest will be held via video entries directly to The Japan Foundation, Sydney.

Entry will close at 5pm (AEST) on August 4, 2025

The winners will be announced by September 10 (Wed), 2025 on the contest webpage.

Reference

Presentation can be done in many different ways – – some focus more on verbal presentation while others use more visual materials.

The most important thing is to convey your idea, opinion, and thoughts to the wider range of audience beyond the language you speak. No matter what your Japanese language level is, you can integrate it into your presentation in your own unique way. There is no definite style or format the contest requires in your presentation. Also, the level of your Japanese language competence is not the main criteria for judgement.

Some of the suggested styles are:

Presentation in English and subtitle in Japanese
Presentation in English and visual information in Japanese
Presentation in Japanese and subtitle in English
Presentation in Japanese and visual information in English
Presentation in Japanese and visual information also in Japanese

Here are some examples of excellent presentation to give you some ideas: unique topic, efficient image and props use, effective interaction with audience, enjoyable and easy to understand presentation, well organised group work, entertaining skit….etc.

新しいアイデアのつくり方 | 高橋晋平 | TEDxTokyo – YouTube “How to Create New Ideas”
プレゼンテーション高校生チーム2019年度日本一！/大阪三国丘高等学校(日本政策金融公庫高校生ビジネスプラン・グランプリ） (youtube.com) Business Plan Presentation by Mikunigaoka High School
第8回全国学生英語プレゼンテーションコンテスト【優秀賞/グループ】 (youtube.com) “A Suggestion for Workshop on Gender Issues”

Please just remember that you will not require such high level of language skills which you see in the above videos. Instead, we hope you can get an essence of a great presentation from them.

How to upload video

You will be producing your own video and uploading it as an unlisted video to YouTube. Do not use a video or file sharing site other than YouTube (not Google Drive, not Facebook, etc).

• Video length: 5 minutes maximum.

• Upload your video to your own channel on YouTube.

• In the YouTube video title field, use the following naming format:
NihonGO!25: [Presentation Title] – [Contact Name] – [Division (HS or Open)] – [State/Territory]
Use English characters only. YouTube has a limit of 100 characters. If you cannot fit your video name as above, please include the portion of your [Presentation Title] that fits, omit the rest but include the full length title when you fill out the Entry Form tab.
Example: “NihonGO!26: The Pirate King – Buddy D. Kloun – HS – NSW”.

• Description: The summary of your presentation in English. Word count to be roughly 100 – 150 words.

• Privacy settings: Must be set to “Unlisted” (so that the video does not appear in search and cannot be viewed without the link).

• Tags: not needed

Deadline: 5pm (AEST) on July 20 (Mon) 2026

Entry Form (TBC)

Prizes (TBC)

<1st Prize>

A package of original goods or vouchers (TBC) from Japan Airlines, Central Japan Railway Company, JTB Australia and Kinokuniya Bookstore of Australia

<2nd Prize>

Total of $300 prepaid Gift Card courtesy of Temple University Japan Campus and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

<3rd Prize>

Total of $100 prepaid Gift Card courtesy of Temple University Japan Campus and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

<Special Prize>

Overnight accommodation for two in Australia courtesy of TFE Hotels