We’d like to learn more about you!

Each competing team must prepare a Team Shōkai and submit it in advance for review by the Japan Bowl Council.* Teams that proceed to Championships will present their Team Shōkai live during the Championship Round.

Team members should work together to prepare a script of no more than 90 seconds total, with each member speaking for about 30 seconds.

Your Team Shōkai must be written in Japanese, with an English translation. You will present the Japanese during the Championship Round.

CONTENT:

• Introduce your school and state

• Introduce your team: your names and one thing that is special about each of you

• Tell us one thing you learned while studying for the Japan Bowl

• Optional: We STRONGLY encourage you to include one or more of the following:
  • a proverb or idiom from the Study Guide,
  • your favorite Japanese genre of art or artist,
  • your favorite type of sushi, or
  • your favorite historical event or figure from 710-1600.

The elements of the Team Shōkai do not have to appear in this order, so be creative! The goal is to convince the audience to root for your school during the Championships.

*Note: This is a change from last year’s procedure.

PRESENTATION:

Teams who proceed to Championships will present their Team Shōkai live during the Championship Round.

Memorize your Team Shōkai! Level 2 students may refer to a notecard while speaking. No notes or phones for Level 3 and Level 4.

Team Shōkai submissions are due by Monday, March 30, 2026.

Team Shōkai can be submitted by the competing students or their Teacher / Lead Chaperone. For your convenience, if a school is bringing more than one team, multiple Team Shōkai can be submitted at the same time via the same form.

Please read the instructions below carefully before submitting your Team Shōkai.

To submit your Team Shōkai,

• Type your shōkai in a document (.docx or .pdf only; no Google doc links, image files, or any other file type).

• At the top of the document, please list the following:
  • your school name,
  • your team level, and
  • the names of the team members.

• Save the document as “SchoolName_TeamLevel(s)_shokai” (For example: “VirginiaHighSchool_LV2_shokai.docx”).

• Use the “Team Shokai Submission Form” linked below to submit your shōkai.

If an emergency situation arises and you need to change any part of your script after this deadline, please contact us immediately.

For a PDF version of these guidelines, please click here.

QUESTIONS?

For any questions regarding the Team Shōkai, please reach out to us at japanbowl@jaswdc.org.