A total of 37,723 entries were received, of which 54 submissions came from contestants in other countries worldwide, for this year’s contest theme of “A letter to the Future”. Of these entries, 156 received a prize. The award breakdown is as follows: Five works were selected for the Grand Prize, 10 works won the Award for Excellence, 20 for the Sumitomo Award, 10 for the Award for Message, six for the “A Message from the Heart” special prize, five for the Maruoka Junior Chamber Award and 100 entries were given an Honorable Mention. The works which received a prize were read aloud by students from Maruoka High School during the ceremony to more than 500 people in attendance who thoroughly enjoyed the well written submissions.

Scene of award ceremony