On the stage of the World Championship of Public Speaking Finals, in the interview after my speech, I was asked where I was from.
I said it with pride: “I’m from Yokohama, Japan.”
And when I was asked about my clubs, the first name I gave was Yokohama Toastmasters Club.
My name is Toshiki Tanaka. In 2026, I won the District 76 International Speech Contest and advanced through international rounds to become the first contestant from Japan ever to reach the World Championship Finals. For that contest, I represented another of my clubs. But Yokohama is my home town, the city where I live, and Yokohama Toastmasters Club is my home club in the truest sense of the word. Wherever I stand, this is where I am from.
The club that believed first
Every contestant needs skills. But before skills, you need people who believe you can go far, sometimes before you believe it yourself. For me, that was Yokohama Toastmasters Club.
From early in my journey, the members here told me I could go a long way. At every stage of the contest season, as I advanced from club to area, to division, to district, and then onto the world stage, this club celebrated like it was their own victory. Messages of encouragement kept arriving, not as formalities, but personally, member to member. That is the character of this club: warm, positive, family-like, with people who reach out to you as a person, not just as a fellow member.
From early in my journey, the members here told me I could go a long way. At every stage of the contest season, as I advanced from club to area, to division, to district, and then onto the world stage, this club celebrated like it was their own victory. Messages of encouragement kept arriving, not as formalities, but personally, member to member. That is the character of this club: warm, positive, family-like, with people who reach out to you as a person, not just as a fellow member.
When the Finals came, they went further than I could have imagined. Kikuchi-san, our former VP Public Relations, traveled all the way to Vancouver to cheer for me in person. Back home, the club organized a public viewing so members could watch the Finals stage live, together.
And then there was the teddy bear.
Before I left, the club gave me a teddy bear with a recording device inside, holding the voices of the members cheering for me. I fully intended to bring it to Vancouver. But when I opened it up and saw the batteries and wires inside, I had a sudden vision of airport security taking one look and pulling me aside. So the bear stayed home, and the cheers came with me anyway. I had heard them, and I carried them onto that stage. When I stood in front of the world, I was not standing alone. Yokohama was standing with me.
A club with history, and a future
Yokohama Toastmasters Club is one of the longest-standing clubs in Japan, and one of the strongest. It is a Smedley Distinguished Club, a recognition held by only six clubs in all of Japan. That standard is not maintained by luck. It comes from a culture where members show up for each other, week after week, year after year, the same culture I felt at every step of my journey.
Come find your home stage
If you live in or around Yokohama and have ever thought about becoming a better speaker, a better leader, or simply a more confident version of yourself, I can tell you from experience: it matters enormously who is in the room with you.
Come visit us. You will see what I mean within one meeting.
Come visit us. You will see what I mean within one meeting.
Toshiki Tanaka
Yokohama Toastmasters Club
