HIDA Journal 2015 SPRING No.6

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23No. 6 SPRING 2015NEWSOn August 30, 2014 the Japanese Speech Contest for Foreigners Engaged in Nursing or Long-Term Care was held at the auditorium at the HIDA Tokyo Kenshu Center (Organizer: HIDA, Sponsors: Japan Foundation, Research Association for Internationalization of Care at Kyoto University, and Asia Human Power (AHP) Networks; with cooperation from other related organizations and companies). On the day of the contest, ten presenters who came to Japan from Indonesia and the Philippines and are working in hospitals and nursing care facilities gave speeches in Japanese, which an audience of more than 160 people listened to with great earnestness. Since FY2008, HIDA has been offering training programs in Japanese and other subjects aimed at nurse and care worker candidates who have come to Japan based on bilateral Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). All of the candidates who come to Japan receive training in Japanese and other subjects, following which they must aim to pass the Japanese state exam while they continue working at hospitals and facilities around the country. But it is no easy matter to simultaneously study a foreign language and specialized subject matter while also working in a foreign country. We planned this Japanese speech contest to serve as an occasion for them to tell Japanese people their thoughts in terms of what they are thinking on a daily basis as they go about their day-to-day duties, and how the frontlines of nursing and nursing care in Japan appear to their eyes. This is the third time that the contest has been held.In holding the contest, we widely solicited draft speeches from not only candidates who had come to Japan based on EPAs, but also people from abroad who have already passed the state exam and those who reside in Japan and are employed on the frontlines of nursing and long-term care. The ten people who presented this time were selected based on an advance screening of their manuscripts. They delivered their speeches confidently in surprisingly proficient Japanese, with the contents of each speech incorporating the speakers’ own unique perspectives. The member of the audience attentively listened to the presentations despite being gathered there for a long period of time, laughing, crying, and applauding as they went. This gave rise to exchanges between the attendees, which made for a very meaningful time. What is more, FY2014 EPA candidates who are currently right in the middle of their training at HIDA also came to the hall, where they appear to have been greatly inspired by the talks from their predecessors who are active at the frontlines of nursing and long-term care. We received a number of comments from the audience members, such as, “I was impressed by the serious thought the presenters put into their work” and “I was surprised at how good their Japanese was; I wondered whether I was capable of achieving things like this.” While it was difficult to select winners since all of the presentations were outstanding, the following three people were awarded prizes. The members of the screening committee commented that these presentations could be sorted into two categories: those that were outstanding in terms of their content and those in terms of their presentation. They indicated that, in this regard, it is possible that those people that have been in Japan for a long time are at a slight advantage. They also commented that they would like foreigners to convey knowledge to Japanese people using their unique perspectives, such as a speech delivered in this contest that introduced the rich community ties backed by Islamic culture in the speaker’s country and appealed to make use of communities for elderly nursing care and preventing cognitive impairments in Japan. Holding of a Japanese Speech ContestA photo taken of the ten presenters, with Mr. Kazuo Kaneko, President of HIDA in the center Summaries of the Presentations by the Three Prize-Winners First placeMr. Paladero Mon Angelo“New Challenges”Using the Japanese proficiency and specialized knowledge on nursing and long-term care that I’ve learned, I began volunteering as a local lecturer teaching medical and welfare interpretation. In addition to my work as a care worker, I regard contributing to this field as a “new challenge” for my personal growth.

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