Model born in Ukraine wins Miss Japan title
A UKRAINIAN has won top prize in the Miss Japan contest, leading to debates across the Asian country about national identity.
Carolina Shiino, 26, is the first naturalised Japanese citizen to take the crown. She was born in Ukraine to Ukrainian parents, but has lived in Japan since the age of five, when her family relocated to Nagoya city.
Her victory has sparked debate over “Japaneseness” and shifting demographics.
“Even though she is ‘Miss Japan’, where is the Japanese essence?” posted one.
“This person is not even a mix with Japanese but 100 per cent Ukrainian. She is beautiful, but this is ‘Miss Japan’. Where is the Japaneseness?” said another.
The event organiser pointed out that the judges were drawn to Ms Shiino because of her “confidence”.
“She speaks and writes in beautiful and polite Japanese,” Ai Wada told the BBC.
“She is more Japanese than we are.” Japan is a homogenous society as a result of centuries of cultural isolation, strict immigration laws and strong pressures for conformity.
But the demographic landscape in Japan is slowly shifting, owing to the demands of globalisation and a shrinking workforce which has led to a more immigration.
Ms Shiino’s triumph came a year after she became a Japanese citizen. The model moved to Japan after her Ukrainian mother remarried a Japanese man.
She has described how she feels Japanese in “speech and mind”, while admitting that she had to endure comments about how different she looked while growing up.
She described her victory as “a dream”, and added: “I’ve had to face barriers that often prevent me from being accepted as Japanese, so I’m filled with gratitude that I am recognised at this competition as a Japanese person.”
Nine years ago, Ariana Miyamoto, whose mother is Japanese and father is African-american, became the first mixed-race woman to become Miss Japan.