A beauty queen has once again re-ignited a debate on what it means to be Japanese.

“There have been racial barriers, and it has been challenging to be accepted as Japanese.”

That’s what a tearful Carolina Shiino said in impeccable Japanese after she was crowned Miss Japan on Monday.

The 26-year-old model, who was born in Ukraine, moved to Japan at the age of five and was raised in Nagoya.

She is the first naturalised Japanese citizen to win the pageant, but her victory has re-ignited a debate on what it means to be Japanese.

While some recognised her victory as a “sign of the times”, others have said she does not look like what a “Miss Japan” should.

  • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
    635·
    10 months ago

    It becomes genetic when you bring race into it “miss” “Japanese/japan” “Ukraine/ukrainian” they also have to show knowledge of their culture, race, language, etc. the beauty is a tiny fraction of it. But let’s make it the largest part of our argument….

    But hey, apparently I’m the myopic one….

    Call it the beauty pageant of Japan if you don’t want to bring anything but beauty into it… not up to them, do it yourself if you want to put your culture on them.

    • blipcast@lemmy.worldEnglish
      142·
      10 months ago

      Well, according to whatever panel was judging this competition, she had all of those things. But you weren’t talking about that. You said she isn’t “physically or genetically” Japanese, and that that was what “pagents are about”.