The Japan Times has been sending the best speller of Japan’s English spelling contest to the United States to compete in the U.S. national finals every year since 2010.

But this year, the spread of the novel coronavirus forced the 11th Japan Spelling Bee, which was originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo on March 7, to be canceled. The Japan Spelling Bee, sponsored by the English daily, is the only spelling contest in the country officially endorsed by the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the U.S.

The unfortunate decision follows the announcement by Scripps to cancel the national finals in Maryland. This year marks the first time since World War II that it has canceled the national finals since the program’s inception in 1925.

The event has been a popular educational program in the U.S., but it has grown bigger over the past decades and countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Jamaica and Canada are now holding spelling bees to select representatives to compete in the U.S.

Under spelling bee rules, each speller must spell their word out loud, and they can request the definition, the language of origin and an alternate pronunciation, as well as hearing the word used in a sentence. Spellers cannot go back and change the order of their spelling once they have spoken a letter out loud.

Every year, hundreds of young spellers take part in the heated competitions. 2019 Japan Spelling Bee champion Ariya Narayanasamy outlasted 39 other students at last year’s contest in Tokyo. Then a student at the India International School’s Tokyo campus, he earned his ticket to go to the U.S. finals after battling through more than two dozen intensive spelling rounds without making a single mistake. His final winning word was “forbearance.’’

Though he could not be among the top 50 spellers at the U.S. finals, Narayanasamy said the whole experience in the spelling competition created new relationships and made him appreciate the art, science and competition of spelling.

“What I liked the most were the experiences, like making new friends and being on stage. This opens a new area of opportunity. Spelling has helped me a lot,’’ he said.

A total of 40 students from Japanese, international and American schools across Japan were scheduled to participate in the 2020 Japan Spelling Bee.

Though each school winner was not able to compete in Tokyo this year, The Japan Times, along with the co-sponsors of the event, would like to recognize those students’ hard work and efforts to win their school bees and introduce them in this section of the newspaper.

The Japan Times hopes to see many schools in the Japan Spelling Bee next year.

This decision was made after careful consideration and close consultations with Scripps and stakeholders following the concerns and uncertainties arising from travel disruptions and other circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. As Scripps cancelled the national finals for 2020, we at The Japan Times have also determined that there is no clear path to safely set a new date in 2020.

We seek the understanding of participants and their families who had looked forward to attending the competition in 2020 and regret any inconvenience this has caused.

The 11th Japan Spelling Bee Program

*Schedule may be subject to change without notice.

• 10:00 Registration
• 11:00 Opening Remarks
• 11:30 Start Spelling Rounds
• 12:30 Lunch
• 13:30 Restart Spelling Rounds
• 14:30 Break
• 14:45 Restart Spelling Rounds
• 16:00 Closing / Awards Ceremony

The 11th Japan Spelling Bee Program (PDF:417kb)

Congratulations to 12-year-old Ariya Narayanasamy, 12, from the India International School in Japan for winning the 10th Japan Times Bee! Narayanasamy won by spelling the word “forbearance” correctly. According to Webster’s New World, the word means “the quality of self-control; patient restraint.”

Narayanasamy will go on to compete at the 92nd Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., this May.

You can read a full report of the Japan Times Bee in the March 12 edition of The Japan Times.

Hanna Yoshida, 14, from K. International School Tokyo. | SATOKO KAWASAKI

Congratulations to 14-year-old Hanna Yoshida from K. International School Tokyo for winning the 9th Japan Times Bee! Yoshida won by spelling the word “insubordinate” correctly. According to Merriam-Webster Unabridged, the word means “disobedient to authority.”

Yoshida will go on to compete at the 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., this May.

You can read a full report of the Japan Times Bee in the March 5 edition of The Japan Times.