We hear from the final year student about topping the Speech Category. Thomas Merryfield, a Year 4 student in Japanese, has won the Speech Category of the UK-wide Japanese Speech Contest for University Students. It is the third year in a row that the University of Edinburgh has topped a category in the Speech Contest, which is for Japanese learners with a range of experience. The Speech Category is the most advanced award in the contest; students must talk in Japanese for around 10 minutes, discussing a topic of their choice and offering opinions and recommendations for change.We spoke to Thomas about his topic 'Rethinking Minority and Majority Relations from an LGBTQ+ Perspective', his experience of the event, and his four years studying Japanese at Edinburgh."Acceptance isn’t one-sided"It was while attending Tokyo Rainbow Pride on his Year Abroad in 2025 that the idea for Thomas’ speech on minority and majority relations first came to him.“Watching some participants push acceptance onto bystanders or present an indecent image of the community to the public, I felt something needed to be said, even if it’s a bit controversial”, he reflects.“My argument was that acceptance isn’t one-sided; that the minority group also has a role to play. I drew on my own coming-out experience to explore why acceptance isn’t instant or linear and why understanding and acting upon that is a key step toward coexistence.”“I argued that this framework can be applied in similar ways to other majority-minority relations.” Thomas (left) with his certificate and his mentor, Atsuko Moriyama. Four years in the making Thomas has participated in the Speech Contest every year of his degree so far, with the exception of 2025 when he was on his Year Abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo.He says “I had been picturing competing in the fourth-year category since my first year, when I first entered the speech contest, [and] when the moment finally arrived, I was excited. It was time to present what I had been working on for the past eight months.” “Preparation for the day drew on presentation techniques developed during my time at Edinburgh, including structuring arguments and presenting confidently. Knowledge from society and cultural modules also gave me the grounding to discuss minority-majority dynamics with more nuance.”“I did not succeed in this competition alone. My mentor, Dr Atsuko Moriyama, met with me regularly to revise my script, polish my pronunciation, and sharpen my delivery. I am truly grateful to Dr Moriyama. I could not have done it without her”. Achieving his goal “I had been self-studying Japanese for six years before Edinburgh, but fluency always felt out of reach”, says Thomas.Asked why he chose to study the language at university, he cites reaching fluency as one of the main reasons, “alongside a longstanding dream of working in Japan”.“Since starting at Edinburgh, my sentences have become more natural, and my pronunciation has improved. Speaking Japanese used to make me anxious; now it feels second nature.” The Japanese MA programme gave me the language skills and connections in Japan I needed, and from April 2027, I’ll be living that dream, working in Tokyo at an AI × real estate company. Thomas Merryfield Year 4, Japanese MA Hons LLC at the Japanese Speech Contest Now in its 21st year, the Japanese Speech Contest for University Students is a collaboration between the British Association for Teaching Japanese as a foreign language and the Japan Foundation.Leon Fan (mentored by Sakie Chiba-Mooney) placed second in this year's Speech Category, meaning LLC students secured the top two positions of 2026; what Atsuko Moriyama describes as "an excellent reflection of the strength of teaching and mentoring within the programme". Additionally, three first year students, mentored by Akihiko Shimizu, were selected as finalists in the Group Presentation Category. In 2025, Jess Polito won the Individual Presentation Category for her talk 'Learning Japanese Changed Me!', following Minju Kim's success in the 2024 Speech Category for her discussion of Japanese-Korean relations.Over the years, Contest speeches by other LLC students have addressed Autism in Japan (Hannah McCormick, 2023), the power of words and translation (Emily Owen, 2020) and manga and societal prejudice (Callum Sarracino, 2019). Are you interested in Japanese Studies at Edinburgh?Edinburgh is the only university in Scotland to offer undergraduate honours degrees in Japanese. Our four-year MA Honours programmes enable you to learn the language in the context of Japan’s history, politics, philosophy and culture, past and present. We specialise in teaching students with little or no prior knowledge of Japanese. You will spend Year 3 in Japan. Find out more about studying undergraduate Japanese More news and features Year 4 student Cameron Bain tells us about presenting at the Asia Pacific Conference in JapanWe speak to student Jess Polito about the Japanese Speech Contest 2025Minju Kim talks about overcoming her fears to win the top prize in the 19th Japanese Speech ContestFrancesca Lutje-Wilkes reflects on winning the University’s book collecting prize for her collection of female manga artists Tags Asian Studies Life at LLC Undergraduate Publication date 22 May, 2026
