The “Umi & Sakana (ocean and fish) ” Children’s Research and Artwork Competition aims to instill an interest in the sea and fish in a greater number of children. Elementary school children are encouraged to submit research or original artwork on the theme of “the oceans, fish, and us.”
The competition was first held in 1982 and Nissui has continued supporting the competition ever since.
As part of the activities to promote entry in this competition, employees of Nissui as well as researchers and experts of other organizations visit schools to hold classes and offer hands-on learning, in order to assist entrants to find themes for the competition.
In the school visits, Nissui, with the cooperation of organizations such as the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science and the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, has asked researchers and experts in fish and fisheries to visit the elementary schools around Japan to provide specialized information, which could not be acquired in regular classes, in easy-to-understand terms, under the theme of “Let’s learn about the wonders of the oceans and fish.” The school visits also provide an opportunity for the children to view specimens of real fish and to touch fresh live fish landed at the markets in the morning. After the lectures, children at every school actively ask questions, and some of the questions have been so perceptive that it surprised even the experts.
In 2019, 17 schools were selected for school visits and a total of 2,643 elementary school students enthusiastically took part in these classes.
The “Umi & Sakana” Children’s Research and Artwork Competition asking elementary school children to submit research or original artwork on the theme of “the oceans, fish, and us.”
In the 38th Competition held in 2019, as many as 26,608 unique works were submitted from elementary schools from around Japan and the world.
The following are winners in each division.
Shuya Iwashita
Noa Izumi
