Semifinal Round

The video submissions have been judged by the first panel of judges. The following 18 semifinalists have been selected. Congratulations to all!

(Listed in alphabetical order by last name)

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High School Division

Shaina Adams, Woodrow Wilson High School and George Washington University (Tsujioka Takae Sensei)

Julien Buentello, South Lakes High School (Podell Adam Sensei)

Jaden Cumpston, Maggie L Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies (Eshita Yoko Sensei)

Yijing Hao, Stevenson School (Nagashima Shinobu Sensei)

David Hong, Lake Braddock Secondary School (Melvin Yuki Sensei)

Heejin Shyn, Troy High School (Mori Mina Sensei)

College Division I

Angela Liu, Rice University (Takayama Hiromi Sensei)

Adam Noffsinger, Indiana University (Akiyama Yasuko Sensei)

Ashton Reichard, University of West Florida (Taylor Takami Sensei)

Ben Smith, Baylor University (Prefume Yuko Sensei)

Tommy Waldo, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Hoogenboom Tomoko Sensei)

Yanyu Zhong, Rice University (Takayama Hiromi Sensei)

College Division II

Asia Griffis, Appalachian State University (Ito Kinji Sensei)

Matthew Ho, Baylor University (Prefume Yuko Sensei)

Andrew Kowalewski, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Hoogenboom Tomoko Sensei)

Yusra Nadir, Brown University (Borgmann Atsuko Sensei)

Emerald O'Brien, The George Washington University (Hamano Shoko Sensei)

Navmi Sharma, University of Pennsylvania (Tamura Megumu Sensei)

College Division III

This division was closed because there were no qualified contestants.

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The semifinalists' videos are now being judged by the second panel of judges. In addition, the semifinalists have been asked to provide a one-minute video message (in Japanese) to the second panel of judges as to what message they would like to convey at the J.LIVE Talk 2021 Final Round. Three finalists will be selected from each category and invited to participate in the Final Round.