Motivate your students to read in English with the Oxford Big Read Competition!
Oxford Big Read 2019 is closed. Thank you to everyone who participated.
-
What is the Oxford Big Read Competition?
- A nation-wide competition promoting reading in English run by Oxford University Press.
-
Who can enter?
- The competition is open to all students from junior and senior high schools, and universities in Japan.
-
When is the competition?
-
- April 2019 – Registration open
- 29 November 2019 – Deadline to submit entries
- January 2020 – Winners announced
-
How to participate
- Students enter through a teacher who assigns and administers the project. Students read an eligible story and create a poster with artwork and some English text. Teachers choose the 5 best entries to submit for judging.
The teacher registers the participating classes, grades or institution via the online registration form.
Students choose and read one OUP graded reader and create a poster. Detailed instruction and the starter pack are here.
The teacher selects the best five items per group and submits to either of the categories via post or email attachment.
*For details on entry, prizes and eligibility, please see the Terms and Conditions.
This campaign is partnered with Kinokuniya Company Ltd. 
Categories
Entries are divided into two age groups below. For each age group, there are two prize categories: 'Fiction' and 'Non-fiction'. Students can enter either category depending on the story they choose.
Junior High School
- Fiction: 2 Winners, 1 Runner up
- Non-fiction: 2 Winners, 1 Runner up
High School – University
- Fiction: 2 Winners, 1 Runner up
- Non-fiction: 2 Winners, 1 Runner up
*For details on entry, prizes and eligibility, please see the Terms and Conditions.
This campaign is partnered with Kinokuniya Company Ltd. 
Prizes
National prize winners and runners up from each prize category, ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-fiction’ in each age group, ‘Junior High School’ and ‘High School – University’, will receive a certificate as well as the following:
Winners
- Student Prize:
- OUP Book Voucher (¥5,000 value), OUP dictionary, poster*1
- Teacher Prize:
- Set of OUP graded readers (20 titles), poster*1
- Institution Prize:
- Trophy, poster*1
Runners up
- Student Prize:
- Kinokuniya Gift Card (¥3,000 value)*2, poster*1
- Teacher Prize:
- Set of OUP graded readers (10 titles), poster*1
- Institution Prize:
- Poster*1
*2) Will be provided by Kinokuniya Company Ltd.
*For details on entry, prizes and eligibility, please see the Terms and Conditions.
This campaign is partnered with Kinokuniya Company Ltd.
This Year's Winners
Thank you to all the students, teachers and institutions who participated in the Oxford Big Read this year. We received lots of amazing entries and our judges had a very tough time deciding the winners.
Now we are pleased to announce this year’s National Prize Winners and Runners-up. We have also selected several works for honorable mention, all of which you can see below.
National Prize Winners
-
- Student
- Hanaka Teratani
- Teacher
- Takeshi Yokoyama
- School
- Toho University Toho Junior High School
- Title
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses
-
- Student
- Kanaru Ebi
- Teacher
- Shusuke Maeda
- School
- Oshukan Secondary School
- Title
- The Wizard of Oz
-
- Student
- Ichie Morita
- Teacher
- Takeshi Yokoyama
- School
- Toho University Toho Junior High School
- Title
- Animals in Danger
-
- Student
- Kaito Matsuura
- Teacher
- Yoshimi Sawato
- School
- Toko Gakuen Junior High School
- Title
- Space
-
- Student
- Aoi Ishii
- Teacher
- Ayaka Morino
- School
- Yokohama Municipal Kanazawa High School
- Title
- Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp
-
- Student
- Hinata Hommaru
- Teacher
- James Taylor
- School
- International College of Technology, Kanazawa
- Title
- The Piano
-
- Student
- Honoka Yamamoto
- Teacher
- Takahiro Arakawa
- School
- Chiyoda Kuritsu Kudan Secondary School
- Title
- The Life and Diaries of Anne Frank
-
- Student
- Chihiro Kawazu
- Teacher
- Katsumasa Ohsaki
- School
- Osaka Kun-ei Jogakuin Senior High School
- Title
- Animals in Danger
Runners-up
-
- Fiction -
- Student
- Ayane Kajiki
- Teacher
- Erisa Horimi
- School
- Kochi Kokusai Junior High School
- Title
- The Great Race
-
- Non-fiction -
- Student
- Shu Goto
- Teacher
- Takeshi Yokoyama
- School
- Toho University Toho Junior High School
- Title
- Why We Recycle
-
- Fiction -
- Student
- Kotori Wainai
- Teacher
- Greg Gagnon
- School
- Toyota Technological Institute
- Title
- Stories from the Heart - Stories from Around the World (Cries from the Heart）
-
- Non-fiction -
- Student
- Mei Nishide
- Teacher
- Takahiro Arakawa
- School
- Chiyoda Kuritsu Kudan Secondary School
- Title
- Space
Honorable Mention
We received several beautifully illustrated and written pieces from students all over Japan. Although we are unable to give prizes to everyone, we would like to give an honorable mention to some of the top entries. (Click the image to enlarge)
