SFL Student Secures the Grand Prize in the Sasakawa Cup National Japan Research Paper Competition
The final of the "2023 SASakawa Cup National Japan Research Paper Competition", which was co-sponsored by the China Research Association of Japanese Language Teaching, the Japan Science Association, and Jilin University, concluded successfully on November 18th at Jilin University. Wang Luer, an undergraduate student from the Japanese Department of the School of Foreign Languages won the grand prize of the culture group in the competition for her essay Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Cold War Era: A Comparative Study between the Japanese Children’s Anthology“Children of the Base”(Kichi no Ko) and its Chinese Translation“Base Children”(Ji Di Er Tong). Advisor Lin Zibo won the "Excellent Advisor Award", which was jointly awarded by the organizer.
After going through rounds of selection by domestic and foreign experts, the winning paper stood out from 140 entries, made its way to the top ten of the culture group, and entered the final which involved on-site defence of two stages: PPT presentation and answering the judges' questions. Nearly 30 contestants from dozens of universities and colleges in China, including Renmin University of China, Zhejiang University and Beijing Foreign Studies University, participated in the final. With her fluent oral Japanese, solid research skills and excellent ability to play on the spot, Wang Luer snatched the grand prize of the culture group .
Luer Wang's participating paper, which was titled Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Cold War Era: A Comparative Study between the Japanese Children’s Anthology“Children of the Base”(Kichi no Ko) and its Chinese Translation“Base Children”(Ji Di Er Tong) , was part of the research results of the 23rd university-level college students' Innovative Practice Plan Project titled Translation of Japanese Children's Reportage in China in the Early Years of the Founding of the People's Republic of China under the guidance of Teacher Lin Zibo.
From the perspective of the history of translation and the history of education, this study took the Japanese and Chinese versions of the life collection of "Base Children" as the starting point to explore the domestic translation of Japanese children's anthology in the early years of the founding of New China, so as to examine the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange under the Cold War system.
The Sasakawa Cup Japan Research Paper Competition , which started in 2018 and had been held for six consecutive years, aimed to cultivate the research ability of Chinese undergraduates majoring in Japanese, improve students' ability to use Japanese to solve problems, and promote the development of students' critical thinking ability and research ability. The competition, a great event in the domestic Japanese studies community, was divided into three categories: literature, linguistics and culture. The final jury were composed of top experts and professors of Japanese studies at home and abroad.