May. 7, 2018

Contributed by Shaundor Chillingworth

KS Kapālama junior Sage Maxwell was one of a handful of students in Hawaiʻi invited to participate in the 2018 Japanese Language Achievement and Speech Award Ceremony by the United Japanese Society of Hawaiʻi (UJSH).

The event promotes and encourages the study of Japanese language and culture throughout the State of Hawaiʻi.

Maxwell was a student in sensei Masahiro Yamaguchi’s Honors Japanese 4 course as a junior last school year.

Nine public and private high school students, most of whom are enrolled in their schoolʻs highest Japanese language course, and six students from Japanese language schools participated in this year’s event. Students delivered their original, approximately three-minute, speeches in Japanese and showcased their Japanese language and speech skills.

While the showcase is not usually a competition, this year was a milestone, marking the 150th anniversary of the first immigrants from Japan to come to Hawaiʻi. Students were evaluated for participation in a special event marking that anniversary, in which the top two students speeches would be selected to participate.

Five judges, including Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu Koichi Ito and UHM Professor Emeritus Kyoko Hijirida, selected Maxwell as the first alternate for the anniversary event.

“This is a great honor for Sage, whose ancestors came from Japan, his family, and Kamehameha Schools as well,” shared Yamaguchi.

KS Kapālama junior Sage Maxwell delivers a three minute speech in Japanese as part of a special ceremony on April 28.

Maxwell is acknowledged for his exceptional Japanese language achievement by being selected as the first alternate for a speech at the 150th Anniversary of the Gannenmono Symposium.