On Saturday, November 7, the 45th Uji City Junior High School Speech Contest was held at the Uji City Cultural Center. Kanon Yabuuchi (Grade 9) represented our school and delivered an even more polished speech than the one presented at the school-level preliminary contest, confidently expressing his thoughts and ideas.

In addition, Kota Umehara (Grade 9) and Mio Fukuda (Grade 9), who had served as student emcees during the school-level preliminary contest, also took on the role of emcees at the city-wide event. Their calm and confident presentation ensured that the contest proceeded smoothly. Furthermore, the cover illustration for this year's event program was created by Riro Abe-Fockenberg (Grade 9).

At the closing ceremony, Haruyuki Kigami, Superintendent of the Uji City Board of Education and Chairperson of the Organizing Committee, expressed his appreciation, saying, "Thank you to everyone from Ritsumeikan Uji Junior High School."

The event provided a wonderful opportunity for Ritsumeikan Uji students to demonstrate their talents in various roles, including public speaking, emceeing, and artwork. We hope our students will continue to value the importance of expressing their thoughts and ideas in words and communicating them effectively to others.

	Cover Illustration for the Event Program (Artwork by Riro Abe-Fockenberg)