Ariana Miyamoto speaks on March 12, after winning the crown for Miss Universe Japan. (photo: KYODO VIA AP IMAGES/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Ariana Miyamoto, who represented Nagasaki was crowned as Miss Japan earlier this month and will represent her country at the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, but her critics are asking if a biracial contestant could truly represent Japan. Miyamoto is half African American (on her father’s side) and half Japanese. By being crowned, she said, she hopes to change attitudes about race in the country, where citizens on average hold the belief more pale skin represents beauty.
“Japan has racial issues, and I wanted to do something about it,” Miyamoto told reporters shortly after winning the crown.
Growing up, she said, she suffered emotional torture because of her darker skin.
“Whenever the teacher told us to hold hands, other children thought my black skin would rub-off on them, so they said, ‘Don’t touch me,'” Miyamoto said. “Some kids wouldn’t get in the pool with me. Others threw garbage at me.”
Miyamoto said that her win is only the beginning of racial changes in Japan.
“International marriages are happening [and] there will be [more] biracial children,” she said. “I want them to be as accepted in Japan as they would in the U.S. I want society to get used to that idea.”
The beauty queen said people have made comments, telling her to go back to the U.S., although she is actually a Japanese citizen.
“I sit on the floor, I take my shoes off when I go into the house, I use chopsticks — I know nothing but a Japanese lifestyle,” Miyamoto said.
The twenty year old was born in Sasebo, Nagasaki, the location of a major American naval base. After junior high graduation she left for high school in the United States. She returned to her native land with dreams of being a model.
She almost shied away from the beauty pageant scene because of her “haafu” (Japanese word for mixed race) features.
According to news reports, comments have been along the lines of, “No, she doesn’t even look Japanese,” and “Half is not 100 percent Japanese. If someone is chosen as Miss Japan, both her parents should be Japanese.”
But, said Miyamoto, the criticism only makes her train harder for the global Miss Universe pageant in January.
