Battle of the Bookworms

This year’s Sakura Medal Book Bowl at Makuhari International School brought together enthusiastic young readers from schools across the region for a day filled with teamwork, friendly competition, and a shared love of books.

Representing MST were 11 students from the Willow class, who arrived ready for the challenge after months of dedicated reading. Students began exploring the Sakura Medal book selections early in the school year, with many reading all 20 nominated titles. Every student who joined the team committed to reading at least five books in preparation for the event.

The atmosphere throughout the day was full of buzzing energy and competitive spirit. Schools competed in multiple rounds testing students’ knowledge of the books, characters, and story details. MST students performed especially well in the expert round, steadily climbing the rankings with their strong teamwork and careful preparation.

One of the highlights of the event was the mixed-team challenge, where students from different schools were grouped together to solve a collaborative puzzle. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to meet new friends, communicate across schools, and work cooperatively toward a common goal.

Final standings saw St. Mary's International School place first. We are also grateful to Makuhari International School for being such welcoming and generous hosts. Students proudly wore bright yellow “Book Bowl 2026” t-shirts, which were designed by Makuhari students and printed for MST by our Eucalyptus students. A special thank you goes to Evan for helping make the shirts happen on such short notice.

Back at MST, students were eager to share their favorite reads from this year’s Sakura Medal list. The clear class favorite was Legends of Lotus Island: The Guardian Test by Christina Soontornvat.

Congratulations to all of our Willow readers for their hard work, enthusiasm, and excellent representation of MST at this year’s Book Bowl!

Elizabeth Ogiyama

Librarian