Photo Contest: “A Tea of Smiles”

We had an overwhelming number of entries just before the April 9th deadline last week, and have decided to extended the deadline until April 23rd because we just can’t ignore those beautiful smiles!

We want to see your beautiful smiles as you drink your tea, as you give and receive tea to friends, family and loved ones! Send us your photos in this contest held on both here and on our Japanese website Obubu.com.

Contest Submission Period

12 March – 9 April, 2010

Categories

• A) Drink and smile – The smile that appears on your face when you drink your tea and think, “Wow this is good!”
• B) Receive and smile – The smile that appears on your face when you receive tea from a loved one as a gift.
• C) Tea and long life – Tea with the smiles of your grandparents.
• D) Open category – Your tea, your smiles in your home, in a cafe, etc.

Prizes

• Grand Prize: Up to US$100 worth of your choice of tea from ObubuTea.com
• Runner-up Prize: Up to US$50 worth of your choice of tea from ObubuTea.com
• Category Prize: Up to US$30 worth of your choice of tea from ObubuTea.com
• Special Awards: Prizes will be awarded depending upon the photograph chosen.

How to enter

• Please attach your photograph to an email and send it to staff@obubutea.com.
• Files should be in JPG format and be no bigger than 2MB.
• Please write “Photo Contest Submission” in the subject.
• Please write your full name, phone number, category you are applying to, and a comment about the photograph or a message to Obubu.
• No more than 3 photographs may be submitted by any one entrant.
• All persons featured in the photograph must have given their consent to entry in this contest by the participant and have agreed to the contest rules below.

Judging

This contest will be judged by Akihiro Kita, President of Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations, LLC and Daisuke Sakurai, President of TCTS Co., Ltd. Yasushi Kumon, photographer, will be a guest judge. Entries will be judged on artistic merit and expression of category themes.

Rules

1. This contest is void where prohibited. No purchase necessary to enter.
2. ELIGIBILITY: All persons 18 and over are eligible unless otherwise prohibited by local laws.
3. This contest is held by Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations, LLC (Sponsor) in Japan, and governed by the laws of Japan.
4. All contest submissions will become the property of Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations, LLC, and may be used in future brochures, websites, etc. (See RELEASE below).
5. SUBMITTED ENTRIES: The Submitted Entry including image and text must be original, unpublished and truthful in all respects; does not infringe or violate any third party rights including but not limited to the rights of copyright, trademark, privacy and publicity; is not infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law or regulation – the Sponsor will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or any court order requesting or directing the Sponsor to disclose the identity of anyone posting or transmitting any such information or materials. The Sponsor will not knowingly upload, reserves the right not to upload, and reserves the right to delete any suspect material. The Sponsor shall not be held liable for violations of laws and regulations governing the material submitted. The Sponsor will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or any court order requesting or directing the Sponsor to disclose the identity of anyone posting or transmitting any such information or materials in addition to deleting the materials from public view.
6. PARTICIPANT: The entry is deemed submitted by the owner of the email address by which the Entry is submitted In case of dispute or ambiguity regarding the identity of owner of the email address, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify the Submitted Entry.
7. PRIZE: Prizes are nontransferable and must be accepted as awarded. No cash or other substitution may be made, except by Sponsor in the event that a prize, or prize item cannot be awarded for any reason; in such event, Sponsor will in its sole discretion award a substitute prize or part thereof of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for any and all applicable taxes (including where applicable sales tax, import tariffs, etc.) due for his/her awarded Contest prize, as well as all applicable fees and expenses related to the acceptance, award and use of his/her Contest prize.
8. JUDGING: All eligible entries received will be judged based upon criteria that are the sole discretion of Sponsor. Judging criteria will be laid out in the Contest Information of each specific contest and shall not be open to negotiation. Participants agree to be bound by these rules, that winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein, and that the decisions of the Sponsor and/or Contest judges shall be final and binding in all respects.
9. NOTIFICATION: Each potential Winner will be notified (the “Notification”) by email (or other method at the discretion of Sponsor). The potential Winner may be required at the sole discretion of the Sponsor to provide proof of identity and/or eligibility. The potential Winner is responsible for entering his/her correct email address at the time of submission and prizes may be forfeited if the potential Winner cannot be contacted or his/her identity cannot be verified.
10. RELEASE: By participating in the Contest and/or accepting a prize, Participant agrees to defend, release and hold harmless the Sponsor, Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations, LLC, and subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, advertising and promotion agencies, and the foregoing companies’ officers, directors, shareholders, employees, representatives, agents and all others associated with the development and execution of the Contest (collectively the “Releasees”) from and against any actions, claims and/or liability for injury, loss or damage of any kind (including any for the violation or infringement of any proprietary or personal right of any individual or entity) resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from participation in the Contest, and/or the use, acceptance, or possession of a Contest prize, participation in a Contest prize-related activity, and/or the publication of a Submitted Entry. By participating in the Contest and/or accepting a prize, Participant consents to and grants the Sponsor the right to use, in perpetuity, Participant’s entry form information, to photograph/video a Participant and a Participant’s property, to copyright material in which a Submitted Entry is used in part or in whole, and to freely and exclusively use, publish and display a Participant’s statements, quotes, picture, portrait, likeness, voice, video, biographical information, prize information, text, and Submitted Entry (in part or in whole, as may be adapted, edited or modified, as solely determined by Sponsor) for advertising, trade, publicity and promotional purposes in any media now known or hereafter discovered, worldwide, and on the World Wide Web, without review, notification or approval, all without additional consideration, unless prohibited by law. However, Sponsor will not participate in the direct sale of any Submitted Entry for profit and will notify and acknowledge Participant at Sponsor’s sole discretion.