IWAKUNI City, Japan -- “Good morning” and “ohayo gozaimasu” are two different ways to communicate the same thing.
Differences can tear people apart, but the Japanese American Society held the 55th Annual Japanese and English Speech Contest to celebrate differences, bringing Americans from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Japanese locals together at the Sinfonia Iwakuni Concert Hall in Iwakuni City, Japan, Nov. 13, 2016.
People from two different cultures bonded and built stronger relationships by learning about one another’s language. Experiencing a different way of life can open eyes and change someone’s way of thinking.
Japanese students performed speeches in English and Americans in Japanese.
Contestants were judged on articulation, enunciation and clear and concise speaking, as well as their overall performance. The winner of the advanced portion of the contest was Capt. Elliot Rasmussen, officer in charge of legal assistance. He told the story of his first encounter with Japanese locals, sharing the connection he had with a lady because of their similar dialects.
“I’ve participated in many activities with Japanese. I think it makes you step outside your box and view yourself, your own people and your own culture differently,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Jared Pace, a contestant in the speech contest. “When you’re in the states everything is so egocentric. When you step out of that where you’re the minority, it helps you see things in a different perspective.”
Showing people more than one way to do something can open their eyes to not only the differences, but to similarities as well.
Despite the language barriers and cultural differences, the contest created one similarity between the Japanese and Americans – the want to increase the relationship between the two different ways of life.
“Americans are similar to Japanese and we get along well particularly through the children,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Richard F. Fuerst, commanding officer of MCAS Iwakuni, “Learning to speak each other’s languages just kind of builds familiarity with each other and we can continue to have a good relationship.”