Junior Sticker Design Contest
The Japanese Teachers' Association has organized a sticker design contest targeting the primary and secondary students who are studying Japanese in Victoria. We have interviewed Yoko Mays, one of the committee members of the Japanese Language Teachers' Association and revealed the aspiration behind the contest.
Yoko Mays
"I am doing this to make the kids love Japanese language even more"
-Could you please tell us how all this started?
I drafted up something novelty and got it distributed two years ago. I received a lot of compliments and since we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of our organization next year, we started this design contest. It's a special occasion.
-Could you please tell us about the organization?
We are from the Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of Victoria (JLTAV). It is a non-profit organization. What we mainly do is to get funding from Japan Foundation and the Department of Education to support and assist teachers who are dedicated to Japanese language education in Victoria.
– Could you please tell us more about the background and objectives of this project?
We have came up with a lot of plans and decided to hold a sticker design contest. We first gathered designs from students. The outstanding ones were made into real stickers and distributed to the schools.This is also the reason why students put more efforts into it.
Also, since students are learning Japanese culture at school, we are hoping that they will be more interested into the culture through this project. What is more special about this contest was that, not just us, but professional designers also took part in the screening process. Our aim is to promote the development of Japanese language education and eventually the Japanese economy and tourism by bring the education and design sectors together. They might seem unrelated, but there must be a strong tie somewhere. This sort of mutual aid leads to a synergistic effect. Thanks to that, the quality of this project has also been brought up.
-What happened after winning the design contest?
The winning and runner-up designs were printed as stickers respectively.
Luae is the designer of the winning design of the primary school section. It is a pity that Bailey was not awarded this time but his design was still incredible.
A short interview with the 1st prize-winner Luae
– Could you please introduce yourself in Japanese?
(In Japanese) Hello, I am Luae. I love Japanese (language). I like comics. Thank you.
– You speak good Japanese! What was the main concept of your design?
I like Japanese culture so I expressed that feeling through my design. Because a lot of my friends went for crane designs so I chose something different, “the lantern” as the theme.
– If you were to go to Japan, which city would you go?
Osaka. Because it's so COOL!
A short interview with the one of the participants of the sticker design contest Bailey
– Could you please introduce yourself in Japanese?
(In Japanese) Hello, this is Bailey. I like basketball.
– What do you like about Japan?
I like Japanese art. And of course anime! That’s why I drew a dragon on my sticker this time.
– Which Japanese animate do you like?
Pokemon! (Pocket Monster)
Are there any events or on-going projects that we can get involved in the future?
Primary schools that teach Japanese hold “Japanese Day”, which is something similar to Japan’s Cultural Festival (Bunkasai) quite often. You will get to experience and enjoy Japanese culture on that day. You can dress in ninja and samurai costumes, play Japanese carnival games, eat your packed lunch. The Japanese culture is unique, so it is going to be fun every year. Please come join us at that time.
We are passionate about Japanese lauguage education!
*Special thanks to Yoko, Luae and Bailey.
