Critics questioned whether the latest Miss Japan was Japanese enough after the Ukrainian-born model took the crown.
Carolina Shiino, 26, captured the national title on Monday night in Tokyo, but not without controversy. Shiino was born to two Ukrainian parents in his native country and moved to Japan at the age of five when his mother remarried, according to The Telegraph.
The young model has since gained citizenship in the Asian country a year ago, but critics say that is not enough.
“The person chosen as Miss Japan is not mixed with Japanese but 100% pure Ukrainian,” a critic wrote on X. “You know she’s beautiful, but this is ‘Miss Japan’. Where is the Japanese citizenship?”
Carolina Shiino, 26, took home the Miss Japan title on Monday in Tokyo, but not without controversy. @karolina0824 / Instagram Shiino was born to two Ukrainian parents in her native country, and moved to Japan at the age of five when her mother remarried a Japanese man. Maidigitv / Youtube
Another said: “How can a white European represent Japan as Miss Japan? This is messed up!”
Many social media users also accused the judges of pitying her because she is from a war-torn country and it was a political decision to crown her the winner.
“If he had been born in Russia, he would not have won. No chance. Obviously, that criterion is now a political decision. What a sad day for Japan,” one said.
However, Shiino brushed off the criticism, calling her win a “dream”.
“The person chosen as Miss Japan is not mixed Japanese but 100% pure Ukrainian,” wrote one critic on X. @karolina0824 / Instagram However, Shiino called her victory a “dream.” @karolina0824 / Instagram
“I had to face obstacles that often prevented me from being accepted as a Japanese person, so I am grateful that I was recognized at this competition as a Japanese person,” he said.
Shiino also said she felt Japanese in both “speech and thought.”
Controversy surrounding her Asian heritage is nothing new for her as she recalls comments about her appearance growing up, reports The Telegraph.
Her mother, Lana, who is also a model, also won Miss Best Body at the Japanese pageant.
Controversy surrounding her Asian heritage is nothing new for her as she recalls comments about her appearance growing up, reports The Telegraph. @karolina0824 / Instagram The judges also supported their top choice, saying that she is “more Japanese than us.” @karolina0824 / Instagram
The judges also supported their top choice, saying that he was “more Japanese than us.”
“He speaks and writes in beautiful and polite Japanese,” event organizer Ai Wada told the BBC.
Organizers also said they were impressed by Shiino’s “confidence” throughout the competition.
Shiino is not the only apparently non-Japanese winner who has won Miss Japan.
In 2015, Ariana Miyamoto won the competition. Miyamoto was born to a Japanese mother and an African American father, and she was the first mixed-race woman to win the competition.
She also placed in the top 10 at the Miss Universe pageant.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
