We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 International Essay Contest for Young People.

This year the Essay Contest was held under the theme “What is Life?”
From among 28,217 entries from 161 countries, the following winners were selected. We take this opportunity to thank all of you who participated in the contest!

Watch the Virtual Award Ceremony below.

First prize winners presented their winning essays during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2021 “Creating a Future Beyond Our Imagination” scheduled to take place online on November 20, 2021.

Certificates and gifts for all prizes will be mailed to the winners in December 2021.

Guidelines for the 2022 International Essay Contest for Young People will be announced on this website and through the Goi Peace Foundation’s mailing list and facebook page by mid-February 2022.

List of Winners

(All ages are as of June 15, 2021.)

1st Prize

Children's category (1 entrant)

• Life is Final
  Vivaan Kathuria (Age 9, India)

Youth category (1 entrant)

• Learning from the land: What is life and how to live
  Ha Bich Dong (Age 24, Vietnam <living in Canada>)

2nd Prize

Children's category (3 entrants)

• Life Is True Happiness
  Citra Karuna (Age 8, Malaysia)
• What Is Life?
  Ryoya Nakayama (Age 12, Japan)
• THE UNIQUE PIECES IN OUR MOSAICS
  Clara Sima Agharazii (Age 14, Canada)

Youth category (3 entrants)

• The True Science of Life
  Hetian Xu (Age 16, U.S.A.)
• What Sustains Life
  Ayaka Hasegawa (Age 17, Japan)
• The Gift
  Laura Silva Bertoqui (Age 19, Brazil)

3rd Prize

Children's category (5 entrants)

• Dazzling Light
  Hikari Tsukamoto (Age 11, Japan)
• Fire of life
  Lara Stancheva (Age 11, North Macedonia)
• My Grandma’s Life
  Riria Yumoto (Age 12, Japan)
• What Is Life?
  Saisha Maya Tappoo (Age 12, Fiji)
• Live to Give
  Mahashri Ranjith Kumar (Age 13, India)

Youth category (5 entrants)

• What Is Life?
  Yu Nitanda (Age 16, Japan)
• The Metamorphosis of a Caterpillar
  Dan Joseph Talle Dillo (Age 17, Philippines)
• What is Life
  Nethmi Ishara Fernando (Age 18, Sri Lanka)
• HAVING A REASON OF HAPPILY DYING
  Prince Bishogo Bashangezi (Age 20, Democratic Republic of the Congo <living in Eswatini>)
• The Life
  Tecil Puzhimel Jinu (Age 21, U.A.E. <living in India>)

Honorable Mention

Children's category (25 entrants)

• Maria Chernuch (Age 10, Russia)
• Sana Nagata (Age 10, Japan)
• Aoi Tsukahara (Age 12, Japan)
• Fathimath Saara Nazeer (Age 12, Maldives)
• Grace Mathews (Age 12, India)
• Hinata Hirayama (Age 12, Japan)
• Paridhi Verma (Age 12, India)
• Riku Wada (Age 12, Japan)
• Ahmed Muhannad Madhy (Age 13, Iraq)
• Kokoro Motoishi (Age 13, Japan)
• Odey Victoria Ogwihi (Age 13, Nigeria)
• Riko Shindo (Age 13, Japan)
• Aoi Futamura (Age 14, Japan)
• Aubrey Joelle Jackson (Age 14, U.S.A.)
• Celine Leung (Age 14, U.S.A.)
• David Oluwatobi Oladejo (Age 14, Nigeria)
• Harpita Pandian (Age 14, India)
• Karen Mochizuki (Age 14, Japan)
• Konoha Hirano (Age 14, Japan)
• Mendigaz Zeinolla (Age 14, Kazakhstan)
• Ozerova Diana Victorovna (Age 14, Belarus)
• Phantharach Natnithikarat (Age 14, Thailand)
• Venezia Méndez Chavarría (Age 14, México)
• Yuan Matoba (Age 14, Japan)
• Yuiko Ishikawa (Age 14, Japan)

Youth category (25 entrants)

• Anna Andreevna Stopyra (Age 15, Cyprus)
• Mai Jahad Sha'ban (Age 15, Syria)
• Nanako Tanabata (Age 15, Japan)
• Hirona Kishioka (Age 16, Japan)
• Mohamed Luth Ibrahim Ziyau (Age 16, Maldives)
• Walid Mohamed Lakdari (Age 16, Morocco)
• Ho Chau Giang (Age 17, Vietnam)
• Ishan Pandey (Age 17, India)
• Tanishka Murthy (Age 17, India <living in Japan>)
• Chiara Jo Mari Galan Cimeni (Age 19, Philippines)
• Emiliano Rentería Benítez (Age 19, México)
• Keita Nishio (Age 19, Japan)
• Pearl Cheng (Age 19, Australia)
• Danna Gabriela Quintero Cristancho (Age 20, Colombia)
• Farhan Ahmed (Age 20, Pakistan)
• Karolina Fedorowicz (Age 20, Poland)
• Swastika (Age 20, India)
• Leta Daniel (Age 21, Uganda)
• Marina Prata (Age 21, Brazil)
• Meghali Banerjee (Age 21, India)
• Nada Yousef Qashqish (Age 21, Palestine)
• Umida Zayniddinovna Esirgapova (Age 21, Uzbekistan)
• Ysiana Agalliu (Age 21, Albania)
• S Priyashini (Age 23, Singapore)
• Rahyara Cristina Oliveira (Age 25, Brazil)

Best School Award (3 schools)

• Joso Gakuin Junior & Senior High School, Ibaraki (Japan)
• Fuji Sacred Heart School, Shizuoka (Japan)
• Kagoshima Gyokuryu Junior & Senior High School of Kagoshima City (Japan)

School Incentive Award (66 schools)

• Beaconhouse Sri Inai International School, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)
• Bookers International Schools, Ogun (Nigeria)
• Brest Gymnasium No 1 (Belarus)
• Bukhara region Karavulbazar district School N1 (Uzbekistan)
• Çağdaş Bilim Anadolu Ve Fen Lisesi, Marmaris (Turkey)
• Chicago Futabakai Japanese School-Saturday School, Illinois (U.S.A.)
• Chitoku High School, Shizuoka (Japan)
• Colégio Guilherme Dumont Villares, São Paulo (Brazil)
• Colégio Vital Brazil, São Paulo (Brazil)
• Drukgyel Central School, Paro (Bhutan)
• Escuela Preparatoria No. 8, Universidad de Guadalajara (México)
• FPT University (Vietnam)
• Fukuoka Jyoto High School (Japan)
• Ghiyasuddin International School, Male’ (Maldives)
• Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Manila (Philippines)
• Honjo Higashi Junior & Senior High School, Saitama (Japan)
• Ibaraki Prefectural Koga Secondary School (Japan)
• Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar School, Alakashi, Lagos ( Nigeria)
• International School of Milan (Italy)
• Iskandhar School, Male’ (Maldives)
• Japanese Supplementary School of Middle Tennessee (U.S.A.)
• Jonan Gakuen Junior High School, Senior High School, Osaka (Japan)
• Knewton Global Schools, Sarawak (Malaysia)
• Koka Gakuen Junior and Senior High School for Girls, Tokyo (Japan)
• Kyoto University of Advanced Science Junior & Senior High School (Japan)
• Labuan International School, Labuan (Malaysia)
• Liceul Mathias Hammer in Anina, Caras-severin (Romania)
• Matsumoto Shuho Secondary School, Nagano (Japan)
• Midori Elementary School of Itabashi City, Tokyo (Japan)
• Mindlabs International Institution, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
• Mukogawa Women's University Junior & Senior High School, Hyogo (Japan)
• Nanhi Dunya, Dehradun, Uttarakhand (India)
• Nobeoka Technical High School, Miyazaki (Japan)
• Okinawa Prefectural Gushikawa High School (Japan)
• Omori 6th Junior High School of Ota City, Tokyo (Japan)
• Owada Minami Elementary School of Yachiyo City, Chiba (Japan)
• PECHS Girls School, Karachi (Pakistan)
• Philippine Science High School-Central Luzon Campus, Lanao Del Norte (Philippines)
• Preparatoria num. 11 Universidad de Guadalajara (México)
• Preparatoria Regional de Colotlán, Jalisco (México)
• Rosary Sister School/Marj Elhamam, Amman (Jordan Amman)
• Santo Tomas Elementary School-Annex, Laguna (Philippines)
• Satriwithaya School, Bangkok (Thailand)
• School 11, Cherkasy (Ukraine)
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sri Nipah, Kelantan (Malaysia)
• Sekolah Kebangsaan Minden Height, Pinang (Malaysia)
• Setagaya Junior High School attached to Tokyo Gakugei University (Japan)
• Showa Women's University Junior-Senior High School, Tokyo (Japan)
• SISA - School of International Studies in Sciences & Arts, Punjab (Pakistan)
• SJKC Kong Min Cawangan Kedua, Penang (Malaysia)
• SMJK Chio Min, Kedah (Malaysia)
• SMJK Keat Hwa, Kedah (Malaysia)
• SMK Jenjarom, Selangor (Malaysia)
• St. Agnes' Junior & Senior High School, Hyogo (Japan)
• St. George's School, Brunei Muara (Brunei)
• Suma Gakuen Junior High School, Hyogo (Japan)
• Sydney Saturday School of Japanese, New South Wales (Australia)
• Taisho Elementary School of Omuta City, Fukuoka (Japan)
• Tamana Girls High School, Kumamoto (Japan)
• The Lao-American College (Laos)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Suginami Sogo High School (Japan)
• Toyo Eiwa High School, Tokyo (Japan)
• VII Kopernik High School, Slaskie (Poland)
• Yamanouchi Junior High School of Yamanouchi Town, Nagano (Japan)
• Yaroslavl College of Industry and Economy, Yaroslavl (Russia)
• Zhodino Secondary School 6, Zhodino (Belarus)

Essay Contest 2021 Flyer (PDF)

English
Japanese
French

Past Winning Essays