My thoughts on Ariana Miyamoto

  Ariana Miyamoto is a winner of Miss Universe Japan. She is twenty one years old, she is from Nagasaki prefecture, and surprisingly, she is mixed. She has a Japanese mother and an African American father. In modern Japanese society, it is not remarkable to be mixed of some ethnic. However, she is a representative of Miss Universe Japan. So it is very controversial.

  【Ariana Miyamoto’s background】
ž   Born on May 12th, 1994 in Nagasaki
  Went to a high school in America, after having graduated from a junior high school in Japan
ž   Worked as a bartender
ž   Hobby: motorcycle touring

My opinion about this is critical. I think she is not appropriate for a representative of Miss Universe Japan. She does not　look like Japanese. It should be a pure Japanese at least as a representative of Miss Universe Japan. (I know, of course, that a winner is selected not only by appearance but also by behavior and ability which are suitable for a “Japanese” beautiful woman. However, as far as I looked over, I cannot say she is totally suitable for a representative of Miss Universe Japan even from the point of such element. )

   However, do not misunderstand. I am saying just she is inappropriate for “a representative of Miss Universe Japan”. I am not saying she is not beautiful or she is not Japanese. In fact, I really think she is a very beautiful and cool woman. The blackish skin, muscularity body, chiseled face, glamorous lip…, they are her wonderful individualities regardless of the race.

  Nowadays, an international marriage is becoming common and we can find mixed people easily. There are also various mixed friends around me. What I feel as far as I have communicated with them until now is that the factor which determines one’s character and the way of thinking is not blood but the environment in which he or she has been growing up. Japaneseness does not arise from the race.

  You may say it contradicts what I said in the first part. It is because when it comes to appearance, the situation is different. You know many people get impression from a look. So in the miss international contest in which women from various ethnics compete, Japaneseness of appearance is thought important. For this reason, I think she is not appropriate for a representative of Miss International Japan.