VALPARAISO | For about 200 Hoosier students Saturday, Valparaiso High School was the place to show what they knew about Japan.

Students from 16 schools participated in the Japanese Olympiad of Indiana. They tested themselves in Japanese language, culture, history and current events.

Competitions centered on individual classrooms. The school cafeteria was abuzz with students, some studying, some playing video games, others trying their hand at origami or Japanese board games. Some participated in a Japanese tea party put on by Maiko Takada and Shizuka Shimotahira, two Japanese exchange students who attend Crown Point High.

For Donny Puent, a Chesterton High sophomore, taking Japanese was part personal and part professional.

"I'm half Japanese, so I wanted to learn the language so I could communicate with my family. I also want to go into the military, and I know there is a lot of travel involved. It will give me the ability to communicate with the locals," Puent said.

Some students said they didn't want to take the standard German, French or Spanish at their schools. Japanese sounded more exotic and more of a challenge, using symbols instead of the traditional American-European alphabet.

"I thought it would be interesting to take. I played video games originally in the Japanese version and I've been into it ever since," Valparaiso High senior Clare Reinholt said.

Olivia Clifford, a Valparaiso senior, said: "I took Japanese for the traditions Japanese offers. I was into martial arts and I wanted to know more about the culture."

"I took Spanish for three years and that was all right, but I like the Japanese culture," said Crown Point High senior Tyler Bowan, who said he wants to travel to Japan.

Crown Point junior Emily Ward-Smith said: "I find it really interesting and it is a lot more fun to learn. I like the traditions. It is very old-fashioned and special. I want to go into business, so it might help me in business."