A girl of Ukrainian origin wins the Miss Japan 2024 crown
Kyiv • UNN
Ukrainian-born model Karolina Shino has won the Miss Japan 2024 pageant, reigniting the debate on Japanese identity and cultural representation. Shino is the first naturalized Japanese citizen to win the pageant.
Ukrainian-born model Karolina Shino has won the Grand Prix at the Miss Japan 2024 pageant. Her victory has reignited the debate about what it means to be Japanese: some consider it a "sign of the times," while others question whether she looks like a Miss Japan should.
This is reported by UNN with reference to Tokyo Weekender.
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The final judging of the 56th Miss Japan 2024 pageant, which took place on January 22 in Tokyo, determined the victory of Karolina Shino, who was born in Ternopil to Ukrainian parents in 1998 and moved to Japan at the age of 5 after her mother married a Japanese man.
Caroline Shino became the first naturalized Japanese citizen to win the contest. However, her victory reignited the debate about what it means to be Japanese.
There was even some controversy on social media, with some saying that Caroline's victory was in line with current trends, but others saying that she did not look like what a Miss Japan should look like. In some cases, someone argued that Shino's victory sends "wrong messages" to the Japanese, as a European woman is recognized as the most beautiful Japanese woman.
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It is worth noting that Carolina Shino's victory came almost 10 years after Ariana Miyamoto became the first biracial woman to win the Miss Japan title in 2015. Miyamoto's mother is Japanese and her father is African American. At the time, the discussion raised the question of whether a person of mixed race could be eligible to win a Japanese pageant.
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Carolina Shino is the 56th winner of the Miss Japan Grand Prix. The oldest beauty pageant in this country was launched in 1950 by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper to select goodwill ambassadors to travel to the United States in gratitude for humanitarian aid sent to children suffering from malnutrition after World War II. Fujiko Yamamoto received her first crown. She went on to become one of Japan's leading actresses, appearing in more than 100 films between 1953 and 1963, including works by directors such as Yasujiro Ozu and Kon Ichikawa.
"Miss Japan is one of many beauty pageants held in this country. But the most famous one, as Tokyo Weekender points out, is Miss Universe Japan, where Ariana Miyamoto became the first ever mixed-race winner.
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