下のスクリプトは事前提出されたものですので、ビデオの音声とは一部異なる場合があります。

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Black Piece

URATA, Yukio (Fukui National College of Technology)

Have you ever felt you are different? I sometimes feel I am the only black piece in the opponents’ territory.

At the age of three, I first came to Japan. When I was at nursery school, I felt I was a little different from the other boys. I felt the same way even when I was out of school. It was not a good thing to feel that way. I could easily make friends to play with, but I couldn’t be with them for a long time. As my home situation wasn't fixed, I had to change schools many times, which made me feel lonely.

When I went back to Brazil in my fourth grade, a similar thing happened to me. They called me ''Japa''. That was a kind of nickname for a boy who came from Japan. However, I didn’t feel so bad; I didn't feel so isolated as I did here in Japan. Three years later, I came back to Japan again to enter junior high school. This time I found friends who didn't care about what I was. So I started not to mind how people thought about me.

Last February, when I had been studying day after day to pass the entrance examination for Fukui Kosen, I began to reflect on my thoughts. Although people saw me as a Japanese in Brazil, I'm actually a gaijin here in Japan. Then, where should I go not to feel different from anyone around me? Where can I find my hometown? These thoughts started to take roots on my mind. I wondered how I could find a solution to this again and again.

Recently I got a great chance to look at myself from a new point of view,

Do you know where the Olympics will be held in the year 2016? Yeah, it is Rio that has been chosen! Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, confidently made a speech in defense of Rio: ''Rio is ready. Those who give us this chance will never regret''.

Well, that’s a very strong and impressive phrase. However, there was something stronger in his speech that made me realize what I had been searching for. At the beginning, he was proudly introducing the characteristic of Brazil:

Um Brasil de homens e mulheres de todos os continentes, Americanos, Europeus, Africanos, Asiáticos, todos orgulhosos de suas origens, e mais orgulhosos de se sentirem Brasileiros. Não so somos um povo misturado, mas um povo que gosta muito de ser misturado, é o que faz nossa identidade.

That’s a fantastic beginning, isn’t it? OK, I will tell you what he said in English. It goes something like this:

''Brazil for men and women from all continents, Americans, Europeans, Africans, Asians, all are proud of their origin, and more proud of being Brazilian. Not only are we a mixed people, but also a people who love to be mixed, that's what makes our identity.''

The moment I heard this phrase, the words penetrated my heart. I had never thought about Brazil like that. Don’t you think we all deserve to have a feeling of belonging? I think I found it! For the first time in my life I really felt like being Brazilian.

Maybe I'm still a black piece. Maybe I can never go back to my side. But now I'm glad for what I am. Just take a look around. White, yellow, red, orange, black. I'm not the only one that is different. I'm just one of the different colors.

Now, I'm proud to say this. I am Brazilian. Yes, I am Brazilian.