The new Miss Japan is Carolina Shiino. This 26-year-old model, born in Ukraine and arrived in Japan at the age of five, is the first naturalized Japanese citizen to win the competition, notes the BBC in its article devoted to the election. “There were racial barriers and it was difficult to be accepted as Japanese,” Carolina Shiino reacted after her coronation. Being recognized as Japanese in this competition fills me with gratitude.”
Mixed reactions on social networks
His election sparked mixed reactions. While some welcome her election as a sign of changing mentalities, others persist in thinking that she does not look like what “Miss Japan” should be. Some Internet users reacted on social networks to the fact that the winner does not have Japanese parents.
In 2015, the coronation of Ariana Miyamoto, the first mixed-race woman (a Japanese mother and an African-American father) to be crowned Miss Japan in 2015 also sparked outrage on the Japanese island.
Ai Wada, the organizer of the Miss Japan Grand Prix, told the BBC that the judges chose Carolina Shiino as the winner with “full confidence”. He praised her perfect mastery of sustained Japanese, going so far as to say that the young woman “is more Japanese than us. »