In their submission to JaViChamp, a Japanese Video Championship for young UK learners, Remove pupils Aryan (HH) and Bowen (GG), were awarded a joint runner-up prize for their film which explores the UK’s popular perception of Japan as ‘cool Japan’ and the growing interest in Japan’s culture.

Aryan and Bowen, who have both been learning Japanese at since joining the Sixth Form, delved into the complexities of Japan’s unique reputation for refined elegance, beauty and purity, intertwined with economic and political affairs, focusing on the idea that the cultural power and international popularity of the nation are key strengths.

JaViChamp, run by the Japan Foundation, a part of the nation’s embassy in the UK, invites secondary school students studying Japanese in the UK to draw on their knowledge of the language, and employ their video-editing and presenting skills to create videos on set topics about Japan’s culture.

Bowen said: “It was an interesting challenge – producing a video entirely in Japanese, as it was a great opportunity for both of us to practice what we had learned over the last couple of years. The theme of the competition, Japan in the United Kingdom, was also interesting as we have both had many encounters with Japanese culture in the UK. There was certainly a lot that we could have talked about in our essay! In the end, we settled on how one of Japan’s strongest suits is its cultural power and its popularity abroad – ultimately the reason why we wanted to learn Japanese in the first place.”