Japanese-Indian Priyanka Yoshikawa was crowned Miss Japan on Monday, making it the second year in a row a biracial woman has won the pageant.
Her victory follows that of Ariana Miyamoto’s, who as a half-Japanese, half-black contestant was the first biracial woman to represent Japan in the Miss Universe contest last year.
“Before Ariana, haafu [half] girls couldn’t represent Japan,” Yoshikawa said in an interview. “That’s what I thought too. I didn’t doubt it or challenge it until this day. Ariana encouraged me a lot by showing me and showing all mixed girls the way.”
While her victory is considered to be trailblazing, some in Japan, where only two percent of the babies born annually are biracial, are concerned with the “purity” of Yoshikawa’s race. Critics took to Twitter. “What’s the point of holding a pageant like this now? Zero national characteristics,” one user said.
“It’s like we’re saying a pure Japanese face can’t be a winner,” said another.
Yoshikawa, who was born in Tokyo to an Indian father and Japanese mother, said she was bullied for her skin color when returning to Japan when she was 10, after a couple years in California and India.
“There was a time as a kid when I was confused about my identity,” Yoshikawa, who will vie for the Miss World crown in Washington this December, said. “But I’ve lived in Japan so long now I feel Japanese.”
