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What's more universal than music?

Students in Mr. Cornell's Japanese Language classes had fun participating in the J Music tournament modeled after the NCAA college basketball tournament. In February, students from Harvey and 19 other schools  throughout the country nominated Japanese songs that came out in 2023. The top 16 songs made it into the final bracket.

"I asked students to fill out the bracket before voting began to decide which songs they thought would advance to the final and who would be crowned the champion," explained Mr. Cornell. "Students then voted during the past month for who they thought would win each round," he said.

Students received one point for the correct predictions during Round One, three points for correct Round Two predictions, five points for the semifinals, and eight points if they correctly predicted the winner. In the end, the students immersed themselves in Japanese culture and music, while also using their competitive spirit in an imaginative way.

Mr. Cornell awarded certificates and a prize bag to the three top winners from Harvey:

1st Place: Luca Nishimura '26

2nd Place: Louis Haft '26

3rd Place: Jacob Harkins '26

"Night Dancer" by Imase was the championship winning song, voted on by 909 students taking Japanese throughout the U.S.

Jacob, Luca, and Louis