We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 International Essay Contest for Young People.

From among 20,657 entries from 157 countries, the following winners were selected. We take this opportunity to thank all of you who participated in the contest!

First prize winners will receive the Minister of Education Award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2019 to be held at Nikkei Hall in Tokyo on November 23, 2019. Certificates and gifts for other prizes will be mailed to the winners in November 2019.

Guidelines for the 2020 International Essay Contest for Young People will be announced on this website and through the Goi Peace Foundation mailing list and Facebook page at the end of January 2020.

List of Winners

(All ages are as of June 15, 2019.)

1st Prize

Children's category (1 entrant)

• Kindness is Free
  Olutayo Ifedayo Victor (Age 14, Nigeria)

Youth category (1 entrant)

• Kind Souls Make the World a Better Place
  Ilia Nikitichev (Age 21, Russia)

2nd Prize

Children's category (2 entrants)

• Kindness: A Choice
  Maya Amaravathi Sarkar (Age 14, India)
• The Kindness We Can See, the Kindness We Can't See
  Tomoya Yamamoto (Age 14, Japan)

Youth category (2 entrants)

• Kindness- The Vaccine Our World Desperately Needs
  Anusha Pillay (Age 19, India)
• Long Way to Go
  Md Tawsif Rahman Chowdhury (Age 21, Bangladesh)

3rd Prize

Children's category (5 entrants)

• It's a Weak Point, and That’s Okay
  Kentaro Sugimoto (Age 7, Japan)
• Kindness Cures Anger
  Tharana Dakshya Rajakaruna (Age 7, Sri Lanka <living in Japan>)
• Ich wünsche der Welt Freundlichkeit
  Paul Komary (Age 8, Italy <living in Austria>)
• A Better World by Kindness
  Ignacy Kulczyk (Age 12, Poland)
• A Kindness Chain
  Rio Nishimura (Age 12, Japan)

Youth category (5 entrants)

• Hidden Acts of Kindness
  Mari Yoshida (Age 16, Japan)
• Being In It Together
  Tamaki Okamura (Age 16, Japan)
• A Society That Values Each Individual
  Moe Itagaki (Age 18, Japan)
• A Step towards Many Firsts
  Md. Rashed Jaowad Khan (Age 20, Bangladesh)
• The Ripple Effect
  Ezeagba Coletta Uche (Age 25, Nigeria)

Honorable Mention

Children's category (25 entrants)

• Mihai Darius O. Andronescu (Age 9, Romania)
• Najja Amani King (Age 12, U.S.A.)
• Chisomo Boshoma (Age 12, South Africa)
• Julia Dreher (Age 12, Argentina)
• Nariaty Abigail Andrade Grijalva (Age 12, Ecuador)
• Kotoka Yorizume (Age 12, Japan)
• Sopanha Flair Tan (Age 12, Cambodia)
• Bakare Daniel (Age 13, Nigeria)
• Jiho Yun (Age 13, South Korea)
• Ryosuke Ikeda (Age 13, Japan)
• Andrea Ross L. Sedero (Age 14, The Philippines)
• Anna Bodnarchuk (Age 14, Russia)
• Caroline Gao (Age 14, U.S.A.)
• Fatima Ezzahra Fattoukh (Age 14, Morocco)
• Gehna Yadav (Age 14, India <living in Switzerland>)
• John Vincent Madera Tiong (Age 14, The Philippines)
• Liz Georgina Arriaga Vidales (Age 14, México)
• Mana Fujioka (Age 14, Japan)
• Rohan Rali (Age 14, U.S.A.)
• Shotaro Fujimoto (Age 14, Japan)
• Sophia Li (Age 14, Canada)
• Tania Lorentzen (Age 14, Russia & U.K. <living in Italy>)
• Yuito Kusakabe (Age 14, Japan)
• Yuki Iwasaki (Age 14, Japan)
• Toshiaki Takeda (Age 15, Japan)

Youth category (25 entrants)

• Anghela Karina Amaya Zapata (Age 15, Perú)
• Balvaneda Rodriguez Diana Itzhamara (Age 15, México)
• Bea Francine Cruz Isuga (Age 15, The Philippines)
• Ken Adachi (Age 15, Japan <living in England>)
• Nanase Kinjo (Age 15, Japan)
• Rara Miyajima (Age 15, Japan)
• Sang-Ha Chon (Age 15, South Korea)
• Hitomi Iida (Age 16, Japan)
• Kurumi Nishimura (Age 16, Japan)
• Saki Tamai (Age 16, Japan)
• Maggie Wang (Age 17, U.S.A.)
• Nada Mohamed Ali Ragab (Age 17, Egypt)
• Batbaatar Adiyamaa (Age 18, Mongolia <living in Japan>)
• Nandini Mittal (Age 18, India)
• Kazi Anisha Islam (Age 21, Bangladesh)
• Ernad Mahmic (Age 22, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Caroline Schiller (Age 24, Germany)
• Emily Neoh Gaik Kin (Age 24, Malaysia)
• Ian Quint Leisner (Age 24, Brazil)
• Kok Jia Xuan (Age 24, Malaysia)
• Luísa de Quadros Coquemala (Age 24, Brazil)
• Lyndsay Francesca Walsh (Age 24, Ireland)
• Ubaka Ifechukwu Miracle (Age 24, Nigeria)
• Vanessa Yamileth Martínez Sarmiento (Age 24, El Salvador)
• Mabeline Yeo (Age 25, Singapore)

Best School Award (1 school)

• Bookers International Schools, Ogun (Nigeria)

School Incentive Award (47 schools)

• Accra Japanese School (Ghana)
• Assumption Kokusai Primary School, Osaka (Japan)
• Auckland Japanese Supplementary School (New Zealand)
• Bunka Gakuen Nagano Junior High School & High School, Nagano (Japan)
• Calamba City Science High School (The Philippines)
• Centro de Bachillerato Tecnologico, Industrial y de Servicios No. 234, Tamaulipas (México)
• Chicago Futabakai Japanese School-Saturday School (United State)
• Chitoku High School, Japan (Japan)
• Colegio San Ignacio, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• Escuela Preparatoria No. 8, Universidad de Guadalajara (México)
• Fukushima Prefectural Asakakaisei Senior High School (Japan)
• Ghiyasuddin International School, Malé (Maldives)
• Handmaids International Catholic School, Lagos (Nigeria)
• Hiroshima Nagisa Junior High School, Senior High School (Japan)
• Honjo Higashi Senior High School (Japan)
• Hougang Secondary School (Singapore)
• Ibaraki Prefectural Koga Secondary School (Japan)
• Japanese School of Hanoi (Vietnam)
• Japaniche Schule in Zurich (Hoshuko) (Switzerland)
• Jonan Gakuen Junior High School, Senior High School (Japan)
• Joso Gakuin Junior High School, Ibaraki (Japan)
• Kaisei School, Shimane (Japan)
• Koka Gakuen Junior and Senior High School for Girls (Japan)
• Kyoto Gakuen Junior and Senior Highschool (Japan)
• Matsumoto Shuho Secondary School, Nagano (Japan)
• Matsuyama Higashi Junior High School of Matsuyama City, Ehime (Japan)
• Mie High School (Japan)
• MITA International School, Tokyo (Japan)
• Nigerian Bioneers (Nigeria)
• Nihon Fukushi University Affiliated High School, Aichi (Japan)
• Nippon Bunri University, Oita (Japan)
• Nobeoka Technical High School, Miyazaki (Japan)
• Okinawa Prefectural Gushikawa High School (Japan)
• Omori 6th Junior High School of Ota City, Tokyo (Japan)
• Otsuma Ranzan Junior and Senior High School, Saitama (Japan)
• Rakunan Junior High School, Kyoto (Japan)
• Rikkyo School in England, West Sussex (UK)
• Satriwithaya School, Bangkok (Thailand)
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sri Nipah, Johor (Malaysia)
• Senzoku Gakuen Junior High School, Kanagawa (Japan)
• Showa Women's University Junior-Senior High School, Tokyo (Japan)
• SISA - School of International Studies in Sciences and Arts, Lahore (Pakistan)
• Taisho Elementary School of Omuta City, Fukuoka (Japan)
• Teikyo Junior & Senior High School, Tokyo (Japan)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Mizuho Nōgei High School (Japan)
• Vancouver Japanese School (Canada)
• Waseda Shibuya Senior High School (Singapore)

Essay Contest 2019 Flyer (PDF)

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Past Winning Essays