2015 Japan Foreign Trade Council (JFTC) Essay Competition (¥1,600,000 Cash Prize & Full Funded Trip to Japan)

Application Deadline: September 11, 2015 at 24:00 (JST)

 Japan Foreign Trade Council (JFTC) is sponsoring JFTC Essay Competition 2015 to encourage students, young researchers and business people to express their opinions on matters of national and international importance.

Topic: “Promoting Globalization within Japan:  An action plan to attract overseas investment, human resources, and other resources”

After a long period of economic slump in Japan, some encouraging signs of sustainable development finally are appearing, and some analysts are reassessing the value of the Japanese economy.

However, behind the façade of a promising prospect lies the problem of the dwindling population, which has been pointed out as one of the critical issues that Japan must tackle in the medium- to long-term. Japan’s population peaked in 2008 and has been on a declining trend since. There is a strong and deep concern that the decline in the labor force population and the contraction of various domestic industry markets will advance further in the future.

Focusing on the state of Japan in the medium- to long-term, i.e., 20-30 years, please send us your constructive and creative ideas for the “promotion of globalization within Japan” which are not confined merely to the “deregulation theory.”

Eligibility Requirements:

• Anyone can apply for the Essay Competition, regardless of nationality or age.

Word-Limit:

• English (4,000words) or Japanese (10,000characters).
• Each essay MUST BE accompanied by an essay summary of no more than 400words in English/ 800 Japanese characters.

Prizes:

• One Grand Prize of ¥1,000,000
• Three Prizes for Excellence of ¥200,000 each
• The award winners from abroad will be provided with a round trip air ticket to Tokyo, Japan to attend the award ceremony to be held on January 6, 2016.

Submission:

• Essays must be submitted in the specified format sheet
• all submissions must be original and should be submitted with complete fill out of an entry form

Announcement:

• Award winners will be publicly announced on December 11, 2015.
• The award winners from abroad will be provided with a round trip air ticket to Tokyo, Japan to attend the award ceremony to be held on January 6, 2016.

Contact

Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc., Public Relations & Research Group
6th Floor, World Trade Center Building, 2-4-1, Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-6106, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3435-5964  E-mail: kouhou@jftc.or.jp

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the 2015 Japan Foreign Trade Council (JFTC) Essay Competition