New Trier Finishes Third At 29th National Japan Bowl

Press release from the New Trier Township High School District 203:

New Trier Japanese 2 students Jihae Dick, Ben Frydman, and Erin Lee won first place at the Illinois Japan Bowl on March 13, followed by a school record-breaking third place finish at the 29th National Japan Bowl on April 8-9.

In a sign of the times, the National Competition was held virtually with over 200 students comprising 70 teams from 36 schools around the United States competing. This was the fourth appearance for New Trier's Japanese students on the national stage that normally entails traveling to Washington, D.C.

The Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. created the National Japan Bowl in 1992 to introduce an element of entertainment to the study of Japan and the Japanese language. The National Japan Bowl is a high-intensity competition that tests students' knowledge of Japanese language and of the culture, history, and social context that bring the language to life. The format is modeled on popular quiz television shows in which students collaborate as teams of two or three. Only non-native Japanese speakers are eligible to participate.

In order to qualify for the National Japan Bowl, teams representing high schools must first win in a regional or state competition. Teams from high schools across the United States spanning Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia to St. Johns High School in Guam competed for two days at three different levels, based on how long they have studied Japanese.

The New Trier students spent the past month meeting twice-per-week after school to prepare for the National Japan Bowl with their Japanese teacher, Naomi Suzuki. Considering how many of the schools that qualify for the National Japan Bowl are perennial top-10 finishers, the New Trier team had modest expectations. Over the two days, the students competed in two preliminary rounds and a conversation round which the students scored very well in, and students were tied for second place after the preliminary rounds. The New Trier team was shocked to be called to compete in the championship round, which was a fast-paced buzzer type contest that was created to decide the ranking of the top three teams.

"Even knowing that this was a national competition, I was amazed by the skill levels of the other teams and honestly pretty surprised we got as far as we did," senior Ben Frydman said.

The championship round was livestreamed on YouTube with over 1,500 viewers tuning in. Despite all of the anxiety and not being able to collaborate in the championship round due to the competition being digital, Dick, Frydman, and Lee did a tremendous job competing against Stevenson High School in California and Townsend Harris High School in New York in the Level 2 category finals, and placed third. They will be receiving their medals and trophy in the mail. In the closing ceremony, Japanese-American Olympic figure skater and bronze medalist Mirai Nagasu congratulated the participants and provided life advice.

"I am so proud of these students!" stated Suzuki, who taught the New Trier students Japanese for the past two years. "I was especially impressed by their hard work, dedication to Japanese, their excellent teamwork, and their humility. They studied for many hours even during their spring break. I really have the best students."

Frydman will be graduating this year, but he plans to continue studying Japanese in a joint degree program called the Sakura Scholars Program at American University in Washington, D.C. and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. Sophomores Dick and Lee are planning to compete again for a top place finish next year in the Level 3 category.

"Japan Bowl was such a unique experience for me, and working with a team I'm really comfortable with has been amazing," Dick said. "Seeing everyone's dedication before the competition is something I definitely won't forget. Altogether, I'm glad we had the opportunity to represent New Trier and Illinois even with the pandemic."

This press release was produced by the New Trier Township High School District 203. The views expressed here are the author's own.