2025.11.07 Congratulations to our student, Jang Jui-Lin, for being selected as an Honorable Mention winner in the “ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest”! 🍵

The “Oi Ocha” brand by ITO EN has been the world’s No.1 unsweetened green tea beverage in sales and has been certified by Guinness World Records for four consecutive years since 2018. Each year, ITO EN hosts the “Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest,” which is regarded as the largest Japanese-language poetry competition in the world.

In the 36th contest this year, a total of 1.84 million haiku entries were submitted by about 487,000 participants from 61 countries worldwide.
Amid this highly competitive environment—with only 1 out of every 369 entries being selected—
Ming Chuan University Department of Applied Japanese student, Jang Jui-Lin, was proudly chosen as an Honorable Mention recipient for his haiku:

「鉛筆の先に込めたる我が決意」“I press my determination into the tip of my pencil.”

Jang shared that the inspiration came from his high-school days, capturing the quiet yet steadfast moment before an exam—when all effort, resolve, and belief in oneself are focused at the very tip of a pencil.
This haiku expresses the courage to shape one’s own future and move forward with confidence. Though simple in words, it conveys a quiet inner strength and the gentle sprouting of hope 🌱

Jang first encountered haiku writing in his third-year composition class in the Department of Applied Japanese, where he developed his interest and eventually entered the competition.

This coming November, the 37th contest will soon begin accepting submissions, and our students will continue taking on the challenge—using Japanese poetry to depict youth, dreams, and the “determination at the pencil’s tip,” carrying that spirit forward into the future ✨