A winning day!

We attended the award ceremony for the Nihongo Art Contest at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre today.  Michael won an Idea Prize for Kanji - Grades 4-8.  The competition is open to students across Ontario who are studying Japanese.  This art form requires students to capture the meaning of a Japanese character in an art work that incorporates the character itself.

This is the first year that the competition has received works done using computer graphics, of which Michael's was one.  Before the ceremony, guests were able to browse the artwork displayed in the gallery.  Here is a shot of Michael standing beside his piece, in which he used the Kanji character for "sword" to create his entry.

Here he is with a couple of friends from the Toronto Japanese Language School who were also winners.

Lily (left) won in her category and Sarah (centre) won the grand prize for her beautiful depiction of cherries.

Here she is with one of the judges holding a poster created from her artwork.