International Controversy and Uproar as blonde woman wins Miss Universe Zimbabwe beauty contest

[Halifax]

True, but have to say ATJ bring to the table some extra goods

I think the 3rd..... Who is it and what movie?

 

[Chad R. Thundercock]

Spoiler: Links

Ukrainian-born model winning Miss Japan re-ignites identity debate

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

www.bbc.co.uk

Airline sparks debate after introducing 'child-free' zones

The new 'child-free' zones has left travellers feeling conflicted.

www.unilad.com

"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.

Her win comes nearly 10 years after Ariana Miyamoto became the first bi-racial woman to be crowned Miss Japan in 2015. Back then, with a Japanese mother and African American father, Ms Miyamoto's victory raised questions about whether a person of mixed race should be eligible to win the competition.

Now, the fact Ms Shiino has no Japanese parentage has upset some on social media. [Priyanka Yoshikawa, a half Indian, also won Miss World Japan in 2016].

"This person who was chosen as Miss Japan is not even a mix with Japanese but 100% pure Ukrainian. Understand she is beautiful, but this is 'Miss Japan'. Where is the Japaneseness?" said a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"If she was half [Japanese], sure no problem. But she's ethnically 0% Japanese and wasn't even born in Japan," said another comment.

Others said her win was sending the 'wrong message' to others in the country.

"I think that Japanese people naturally (would) get the wrong message when a European looking person is called the most beautiful Japanese."

Ai Wada, the organiser of the Miss Japan Grand Prix pageant told the BBC that judges had chosen Ms Shiino as the winner with 'full confidence'.

"She speaks and writes in beautiful and polite Japanese," Ms Wada said. "She is more Japanese than we are."

As well as becoming the first person not born in Japan to win the title, Shiino is also the oldest person to ever win the competition.

Ahh, beat me to it.