Tokyo, Feb.6, 2017 - The Japan Times, Ltd. is pleased to announce that the 8th Japan Times Bee will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2017.

  Each year, the winner of The Japan Times Bee is sponsored and sent by The Japan Times to compete in the nationally-televised Scripps’ National Spelling Bee final in the U.S. The U.S. is the birthplace of the spelling bee and the winner(s) of the national U.S. final is / are invited to meet the President at the White House. It is a popular national U.S. event.

The Japan Times Bee, which was first held in 2010, is Japan’s spelling competition for students from Japanese and International schools in Japan and is fully endorsed by Scripps in the U.S.

  This year, 36 schools from all around Japan will participate in the Japan Times Bee. Each school holds their school bee to determine their representative participant in advance.

  Journalists are encouraged to attend the bee, to witness the competition and to see 8 to 15* year old school children show off their impressive spelling skills.

第 7 回 The Japan Times Bee (2016.3.19 開催) / 7th Japan Times Bee on Saturday 19 March 2016. Satoko Kawasaki.
第 7 回 The Japan Times Bee (2016.3.19 開催) / 7th Japan Times Bee on Saturday 19 March 2016. Satoko Kawasaki.

第 7 回 The Japan Times Bee 優勝者 / Winner of the 7h Japan Times Bee
第 7 回 The Japan Times Bee 優勝者 / Winner of the 7h Japan Times Bee

Details of the 8th Japan Times Bee

Dates: Saturday, March 4, 2017, 10:30-16:30 (End time is approximate)

Venue: Japan Times Nifco Hall (4-5-4 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Organizer: The Japan Times, Ltd.

Supported by: Embassy of The United States Tokyo; The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan; The New York Times

Sponsored by: Costco Wholesale Japan, Ltd.; Yours Corporation; University of Southern California; Simmons Co., Ltd.; Nifco Inc.

Participating schools: 36

Participants: *Spellers who have not reached their 15th birthday on or before Aug 31st 2016 and who have not passed the 8th grade on or before Feb 1st 2017. (1 student representative from each registered school)

Websitehttp://spelling-bee.japantimes.co.jp/

The event will be broadcast live on the day. Details will be on the website shortly.

Application to Report on the Bee

Journalists interested in reporting on the bee should fill in the following form and return it by email or fax.

●Email: [email protected]

(Include "8th JT Spelling Bee" in subject line)

●Fax: 03-3452-0659

Application Form

■Company name:

■Publication name:

■Journalist's name:

■Telephone no. :

■E-mail address:

■Would you like to take photos? □Yes □No

■Other special requests:

Press Enquiries:Corporate Affairs Management Div. The Japan Times, Tel: +81 3 3453 5312;

E-mail: [email protected]


You can download the information in PDF format.