Announcement of the Essay Contest and Photo Contest 2025 Winners

Once again this year, we received a wonderful variety of heartfelt submissions—photographs capturing your unique “Oyako” (parent-child) moments, and essays filled with your precious family stories. We sincerely thank everyone who participated.

Although the judging process took longer than expected, after careful and fair deliberation, we are pleased to announce the 2025 contest winners and their works. Prizes will be sent individually to each recipient.

One of the most striking aspects of this year’s entries was the rich diversity of time shared between parents and children. Many photographs captured not only daily scenes, but also special places visited together and the joy found in those shared moments.

In the essay category, we were particularly moved by the heartfelt reflections from older male participants expressing their feelings toward their parents—works that resonated deeply with the social mood of our times.

We were also delighted to receive many thoughtful and moving essays from junior and senior high school students, showing how meaningfully the theme of “parent and child” is being embraced by younger generations.

Selecting the final winners this year proved to be an especially challenging task.

The theme of “Oyako” is endlessly profound and cannot be fully expressed in words.

As we announce these remarkable stories today, all of us on the judging panel feel a deep sense of gratitude and joy.

We hope that this contest will continue to serve as a driving force for nurturing and sharing the spirit of Oyako no Hi (“Oyako Day”) together with all of you.

Yoshiko Inoue

Representative, Oyako Day Promotion Committee