Organising Team 2025

WSD Japan 2025 Judges (for speeches in English)

Beth Derks-van Damme

Beth leads the Future Leaders project in the Schools of Politics, Philosophy, Language and communication at the University of East Anglia. She is a passionate advocate to give young people a voice and give them the insight, skills and confidence to lead on instigating positive social change.

She brought World Speech Day to the UEA and to the Netherlands

Also, she is the main organizer for the first ever National Political Speech Competition for UK students.

Simon Gibson

The founder of World Speech Day

WSD Japan 2025 Judges (for speeches in Japanese)

Miriam Starling

Assistant Programme Officer: Japanese Language,

The Japan Foundation, London

Akiko Shirabe

Japanese lecturer

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Fumiko Narumi -Munro

Head of Japanese language in Asian Studies

University of Edinburgh

Emiko Kamimoto

Lecturer in Japanese

Durham University

WSD Japan 2025 Advisors

Fiona Long

She has worked for many years as a lecturer and teacher of English in the UK. At the same time she has coordinated university Pre-Masters programmes, helping international students to improve their English language and academic skills. She has a degree in modern languages and a Masters in English language teaching. She is very interested in helping students to increase their communication skills and confidence.

Keiko Kelly

Started teaching Japanese at a secondary school in Croydon in 1999. Since then, has been engaged in Japanese education in the UK, having taught at SOAS and KCL for about 10 years. Also conducted sessions at the Japan foundation, including on ‘contemporary Japan’ and refresher courses for new teachers of Japanese.

Recently spent nearly 3 years in her home prefecture Oita, during which time she taught at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, and came back to London in May 2021.

Anqi Mao

Ann is a graduate student from Durham University. Her speech in March WSDJ 2023 won the First Prize of the year and she has now joined the organizing team as a mentor. From the experiences she gained from the event, she's looking forward to more exciting ideas from the speeches this year.

Edmund Ho

Edmund first got involved with the WSD in Japan back in 2020 and has been a dedicated mentor since 2021. He holds an N2 Japanese qualification and, after graduating from Durham University, he's been applying his skills in London's legal industry.

Away from work, Edmund's passions include listening to music and bouldering, with a special spot in his heart for the J-pop band Official髭男dism.

WSD Japan 2025 Student ambassadors

Coming Soon

WSD Japan 2025 Technical Supervisors

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