On the sixth of September 2016, Ms. Priyanka Yoshikawa was crowned Ms. Japan and she will represent the country at the Miss World Pageant 2016. Ms. Yoshikawa was born to an Indian father and a Japanese mother and her crowning has set off a storm of controversies. Japan is a country where race is given a lot of importance, and the presence of children of mixed race is less than two percent. It is here, that the half Indian and half Japanese Ms.Yoshikawa was crowned the beauty queen. For a country that is highly developed, the nation has shown little tolerance to a winner of mixed blood, and this is not the first time. Last year Ariana Miyamoto became the first black woman to represent Japan, and she faced tremendous criticism, especially from social media which labelled her as a “haafu” or half as opposed to a “pure” Japanese. She went on to finish in the final ten contestants for Miss Universe.
For all the storm she created, Ms. Miyamoto set the precedent and opened the door for others like Ms.Yoshikawa. In the words of the latter, “Before Ariana, haafu girls couldn’t represent Japan…I didn’t doubt it or challenge it until this day. Ariana encouraged me a lot by showing me and showing mixed girls the way.”
Ms. Yoshikawa speaks of how she was discriminated after coming back to Japan, when she was just ten years old, after living in California and India. She said that others would treat her as unclean, “When I came back to Japan, everyone thought I was a germ. Like if they touched me, they would be touching something bad.” However rather than be bullied into submission, it was these experiences that made her strong enough to compete for the title. Through her position, she hopes to educate the people of Japan to accept people of other nationalities
and cultures. She is proud of her mixed race and points out that it is only in Japan that people ask about her origins, all other people accept her as she is.
For most people who see beauty pageants as a sexist practice that is ancient, the questions that Ms. Yoshikawa’s selection has raised are very pertinent. In this changing world what is considered beautiful? For the critic with the discerning eye this much is obvious – beauty pageants and their viewers aim at assessing not just physical beauty, but something which goes beyond that. The aim is in trying to evaluate all the aspects of a person, and see whether a multidimensional personality is possessed. Although physical beauty is a necessary prerequisite, it is clear that more qualities are required and from the young women who compete there is substantial evidence that they are all quite accomplished.
Ms. Miyamoto’s and Ms. Yoshikawa’s experience have shown the
world that Japan is very racial in its assessment of beauty,but it is important to consider that this is not the only country which is racist. The aesthetics of a nation is undoubtedly coloured by its cultural dimensions, but what is true beauty and how can it be judged? The outrage over Japanese reactions show that the world is moving towards a more global standard, and this point has been further proved by the variety of people who have won the pageants in the past years. It shows that a general shift forward can be seen in the world of aesthetics. Upon closer introspection, it can be seen that beauty is something that conquers national and cultural barriers. For the true seeker of beauty, it is a many dimensional wonder that is not hedged into physical features, but bursts into a riot of extravagant design just like the sides of a well cut diamond. Let us embrace and celebrate differences rather than strive for a mundane uniformity, let us broaden our horizons and welcome real beauty.
