Today, English has become the lingua franca of the world in the true sense of the word, used not only in traditional Emglish-speaking countries but also in non-English- speaking countries. For example, those of you who have foreign business contacts may be feeling the need to use English for a variety of reasons, such as daily communications through E mails, faxes and business letters, or group opportunities including parties, meetings and presentations. In the course of business transactions with your counterparts from different cultures, you may often feel frustrated, because you cannott effectively rebut their asssertions and conduct the exchange at your own pace. What you need is not just the four skills of "reading", "writing", "listening" and "speaking" English. You also need the ability to "think" in English

As a voluntary organization, The English Speaking Union of Japan (ESUJ) aims to  familiarize the Japanese people with English as a tool for international communication. In debating, its university competition, held for the past 13 years for the purpose of fostering global communicators, has become the most authoritative parliamentary debating competition in Japan, and has produced a numberof debaters who can vie on a par with their international counterparts. The adults competition, held 10 times so far, has served to heighten the interest in debating and public speaking among those who actually engage in international work in their careers. In addition, we conduct on the average at least two programmes per month designed to enable people to enjoy using English. Our proactive dissemination of a variety of opinions that exist within Japan to our readers across the world, through our colun on the website, has been appreciated at home and abroad, especially since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011.

It is our sincere wish that you agree with our objectives and join ESUJ.