Vietnam has recently taken home two prizes at an international photo festival for high school students, hosted by Japan.

The Vietnamese team joining the 1^st International High School Students’ Photo Festival Exchange in Higashikawa Town comprised three high school students, Nguyen Khac Hieu, a 9^th grader; Nguyen Ba Hoang Minh, an 11^th grader; and To Quang Minh, a 12^th grader.

The student delegation whose members are all from the capital city of Hanoi won two prizes, one for the whole team and the other for individual achievement, given to Minh.

The photo festival took place from August 4 to 8.

During three consecutive days, contestants participated in three photo sessions based on different themes and categories: landscape, everyday life, and festival.

Each team was required to select a series of six photos together with two photos per person for submission.

The festival was attended by 13 teams from 10 countries and territories in the world – including China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, Latvia, Uzbekistan – together with the host country Japan.

In 1985, Higashikawa was declared the Town of Photography, the only of its kind in the world, aiming to create a town of “being a good subject to be photographed” co-existing with beautiful nature inhabited by many species of animals and plants, according to the fest’s official website.

Higashikawa Town is located in central Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan, and is a part of the East Asian country's largest national park, "Daisetsuzan National Park," with Higashikawa's eastern area forming a large-scale forest.

Blessed with natural beauty, many places in Higashikawa have been the subjects of various photographs.

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