TOKYO >> About 30 American high school students studying Japanese culture and language enjoyed a firsthand experience of the nation July 24 in Tokyo’s Asakusa and Akihabara areas, dipping into Japan’s traditions and pop culture.

The students are prize winners in the National Japan Bowl, a Japanese language competition established by the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C., in 1992. This year the competition was held in Maryland in April, with 170 students from 28 high schools tackling quizzes with questions such as “What do you call the sumo retirement ceremony that involves cutting off the topknot?”

They visited Japan as part of the Kakehashi Project, a Foreign Ministry program that fosters exchanges between the young people of Japan and North America. In an eight-day program that started July 19, the students also visited Nagasaki, exploring sites such as the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and Oura Cathedral.

On July 24 the students first explored the Akihabara area. Escorted by university students who belong to the Japan National Student Association Fund, they enjoyed this area known for anime, manga, games and electronic goods, visiting shops such as those selling anime-related goods.

Next they moved on to the Asakusa area. They visited Sensoji temple, where some of the students drew omikuji fortunetelling slips. They also enjoyed shopping and eating food on Nakamise Avenue.

Brandon Jagdhar was a member of a team from New York’s Townsend Harris High School that shared the top prize in the competition. The 18-year-old said he started learning about Japan when he was a junior high school student.

Jagdhar said he enjoys studying cultural differences, adding that he is especially interested in Japan’s omotenashi spirit. “Such a sense of hospitality could only be found in Japan,” he said.