The Miss Japan beauty pageant had a surprise winner this week, and not everyone in the country is happy with the judges’ choice.
26-year-old Carolina Shiino took home the top prize in Tokyo on Monday evening, telling reporters afterwards in impeccable Japanese: “It was like a dream.”
But her win at the 56th edition of the award has sparked fierce debate in Japan about what it means to be Japanese… because she was born in Ukraine.
Born in 1998, she moved to Japan – where she grew up in Nagoya – at the age of five after her Ukrainian mother remarried a Japanese man.
Her win means she is the first naturalized Japanese citizen to take home the Miss Japan gong, a fact that has divided commentators in the country.
The Miss Japan beauty pageant had a surprise winner this week: Carolina Shiino (photo)
Carolina Shiino, 26, took home the top prize in Tokyo on Monday night, telling reporters afterwards in impeccable Japanese: ‘It was like a dream’
Pictured: the moment Ms. Shiino was announced as the winner of the Miss Japan pageant
Some people have recognized her win as a “sign of the times,” while others said she doesn’t look like a typical “Miss Japan.”
Her win comes after a similar debate arose in 2015 when Ariana Miyamoto became the first biracial woman to be crowned Miss Japan.
With a Japanese mother and an African-American father, Ms. Miyamoto’s victory also sparked a debate over whether someone of mixed race should be eligible.
Now that the award is being presented to someone without Japanese ancestry, people are once again up in arms about the outcome of the election.
On social media, someone on X (formerly Twitter) wrote that the competition was “discriminating against Japanese faces.”
Another said in a message: ‘This person who was chosen as Miss Japan is not even a mix with Japanese, but 100% pure Ukrainian. Understand she’s beautiful, but this is ‘Miss Japan’. Where is the Japaneseness?’ according to the BBC.
But Ms. Shiino’s victory at the 56th edition of the award has sparked fierce debate in Japan about what it means to be Japanese… because she was born in Ukraine.
Ms Shiino was born in Ukraine in 1998 and moved to Japan – where she grew up in Nagoya – at the age of five after her Ukrainian mother remarried a Japanese man
Some people have recognized Ms. Shiino’s win as a “sign of the times,” while others said she does not look like a typical “Miss Japan.”
Ms. Shiino was born to Ukrainian parents but moved to Japan in the early 2000s, when she was just five, after her mother remarried a Japanese man
After her win, she said she “struggled to be accepted as a Japanese”
‘If she was half Japanese, no problem. But she is ethnically 0% Japanese and wasn’t even born in Japan,” another comment read.
Others argued that ‘when a European-looking person is called the most beautiful Japanese person’, it sends the ‘wrong message’ to the Japanese.
Some even went so far as to suggest the victory was a political statement.
One person claimed: ‘If she had been Russian born she wouldn’t have won. No chance. It is clear that the criteria are now a political decision. What a sad day for Japan.”
Speaking to reporters after being declared the winner of the competition, Ms. Shiino said she has faced difficulties “being accepted as a Japanese person.”
“The moment they called my name, I couldn’t stop crying,” she said in Japanese.
“I have faced barriers that often prevent me from being accepted as a Japanese, so I am filled with gratitude to be recognized as a Japanese at this competition.”
Speaking to reporters after being declared the winner of the competition, Ms Shiino (pictured) said she has faced difficulties ‘being accepted as a Japanese’
About her motivation to enter the competition, she said: “I have lived in Japan since I was five and realized that I spoke Japanese and lived as a Japanese.
At 172 cm tall, Ms. Shiino was one of the taller participants, and at 26 years old, also the oldest. Her motto is: ‘A high mountain is not noble because of its height’
She added: ‘My goal became to create a society where people are not judged by their appearance, which is what led me to enter the competition.’
About her motivation to enter the competition, she said: “I have lived in Japan since I was five and realized that I spoke Japanese and lived as a Japanese.
‘But it was the first time I noticed that my appearance was different because of comments from people around me.’
When her name was announced, she immediately acknowledged her mother, who brought her to Japan 20 years ago.
When asked who she wanted to share her joy with, she replied, “My family, especially my mother. I want to tell her first: ‘Mom, I won the Grand Prix!’
At 172 cm tall, Ms. Shiino was one of the taller participants, and at 26 years old, also the oldest.
Her motto is: ‘A high mountain is not noble because of its height.’
Ai Wada, the organizer of the Miss Japan Gran Prix pageant, said the event “gave us the opportunity to rethink what Japanese beauty is.”
‘After today’s results, I am convinced of one thing: Japanese beauty does not exist in appearance, not in the blood, but is deep in our hearts.’
The furore over Ms Shiino’s victory on Monday comes after a similar row erupted late last year over the winner of Miss France.
Ms Shiino’s victory comes after a similar debate emerged in 2015 when Ariana Miyamoto (pictured) became the first biracial woman to be crowned Miss Japan
With a Japanese mother and an African-American father, Ms. Miyamoto’s victory also sparked a debate over whether someone of mixed race should qualify
Short-haired 20-year-old Eve Gilles found herself at the center of a row over her pixie hair after her Miss France win in December
Short-haired, 20-year-old Eve Gilles found herself in the middle of a row over her pixie hair after her win in December.
Critics said the kind of long hair favored by previous winners – and Gallic female icons such as Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve – would have been far more appropriate than a short pixie bob worn by Ms Gilles.
But Eve hit back, saying: ‘We’re used to seeing beautiful ladies with long hair, but I opted for an androgynous look with short hair.’ She said it was a victory for awakened “diversity,” and that “no one should dictate who you are.”
As the debate over acceptable female appearance raged, Eve said she was used to being ‘body shamed’, even being excluded from Miss France for being too small.