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Japanese Society
honors Oahu students
for language ability

Star-Bulletin staff

Fifteen Oahu high school students received awards at the 20th annual Japanese language achievement and speech award event sponsored by the United Japanese Society of Hawaii.

Participants made speeches in Japanese to demonstrate their skills in the awards ceremony held May 6 at Jefferson School.

Each received $100 cash, a pocket calculator, a certificate of excellence and an English-Japanese dictionary.

The students were: Lauren Aoki, Campbell High School; Victoria Chang, Punahou; Kaipo Ikemoto, Kamehameha; Leigh Kido, Kahuku; Maggie Lee, McKinley; Christine Migita, Castle; Lisa Nguyen, LaPietra; Leigh Nojima, Pearl City; Jared Oyama, Hawaii Baptist; Rayna Joy Saeki, Lutheran; Chris Taclas, Radford; Alice Tong, Iolani; Malena Tyson, Kailua; Mark Villanueva, Damien; and Edna Yano, Leilehua.

All of the students are seniors, except for Aoki, who is a junior and also the winner of a drawing prize -- a trip to Japan courtesy of Japan Airlines, and a JR RailPass from Kintetsu International Hawaii.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Glenn Masunaga, who received an imperial decoration -- The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays -- from Japan last fall for extensive assistance in researching and developing orthodontics in several countries. He credited a large part of his achievements to his proficiency in the Japanese language.

The primary source of funding for the awards program is the society's annual Ganbare Golf Tournament held at the Pearl Country Club, as well as The Japan Foundation.