We received four applications in the fiscal year 2013. The following research was selected with unanimous decision from the five committee members.

• Research accomplishment: Development and promotion of Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
      http://www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/
• Recipients: Nobuaki MINEMATSU (University of Tokyo) +9 members
• Research group members:
  • Hiroko HIRANO (Northeast Normal University)
  • Chieko NAKAGAWA (Waseda University)
  • Noriko NAKAMURA (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
  • Yukinori TAGAWA (Waseda University)
  • Ibuki NAKAMURA (University of Tokyo)
  • Keikichi HIROSE (University of Tokyo)
  • Hiroya HASHIMOTO (University of Tokyo)
  • Tomoyuki MIZUKAMI (University of Tokyo)
  • Masayuki SUZUKI (Previously: University of Tokyo, Presently: IBM Research-Tokyo)
• Resons:
  
  1. The development of “Online Japanese Accent Dictionary” is an application of speech synthesis to education. The system is of great value to the educational field. OJAD is a research outcome that brings together the basic studies of accent and its application.
  2. OJAD has continued to improve after its release based on teachers and learners’ feedback.
  3. OJAD group proposes its manner of utilization in classrooms, promotes learners’ autonomous learning, and organizes workshops.
  4. OJAD can be accessed freely by Japanese learners. Learners are able to listen to accent immediately with a user-friendly interface. The system is expected to have a significant effect on the society.
  5. OJAD has launched its operation on multilingual environment.

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The Selection Committee in the fiscal year 2013 consists of:

• Yukari TANAKA (Chair)
• Akiko MATSUMORI (Alternate chair)
• Mariko KUNO, Junko SUGIMOTO, Seiya FUNATSU (members)
• Naoki HAYASHI (Organizer)