When Ariana Miyamoto was crowned Miss Japan Universe last March, she didn’t imagine being slammed for not looking Japanese enough.
Born to an African American man and Japanese woman, Ariana’s darker features stood out among her competitors. According to Ibtimes, she decided to enter the competition after her mixed-race friend committed suicide.
“I was asked to join the competition in 2014 by an agency in Nagasaki, and although there were other biracial contestants, none of them won, so I declined, thinking I wouldn’t win anyway. But that same year, I had a biracial friend who killed himself, so for him I wanted to change Japan.
Since being crowned Miss Japan, Ariana has suffered backlash.
“That big mouth, that gaudy face. This is Miss Japan?” one social media commenter wrote. Another said she looks like an ant.
Despite the criticism she’s faced in Japan, Ariana says that she does get some support from other Asian nations.
“I get voices of support from South Korea, and I think, these countries are neighbours but so different in their opinion of me,” she added.
I’ve been in a similar situation, so I understand how she must have felt. I remember the backlash I endured while competing in Jamaica. To many, I was a foreigner who had no business entering pageants in a country in which I spent so many years away.
I’d always have to explain why I left and what brought me back. I knew that winning would be a long shot, but I also felt that giving up wasn’t an option.
Although some of the other competitors were cruel, I chose to ignore them. In some weird way that experience made me strong. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Jamaican culture. We are known for being very honest. Just think Showtime at the Apollo. If you’re terrible, they have no problem booing you off the stage. That didn’t happened to me, however the horrible comments I heard was enough to make me feel defeated.
I even got bad press from one of the Jamaican reporters. It was a tough pill to swallow reading negative things about me in the newspaper. She later apologized after an encounter we had. She admitted to being wrong for judging me. In some strange way I felt victorious. It must have taken a lot for her to say she was wrong, and I appreciated that.
It was a rough road, but I wouldn’t exchange the experience for the world. I was content having made it to the semi-finals in the Miss Jamaica Universe pageant and Jamaica Fashion Model competition. I also made some amazing friends.
Now that I’m a mom raising biracial kids, who may someday be slammed for not being ‘white or black enough,’ I can only hope that the values that my hubby and I teach them will resonate and help them though life. Who knows, our daughter may someday want to follow in Mommy’s footsteps and compete in pageants. My only hope that if she does, she doesn’t let society define her.
As for Miyamoto, she says she wants to make a difference, especially for the growing number of mixed-race children in Japan. Ibtimes mentions that in 2013, international marriages made up 3.3% of the total, government figures show, or four times the 1980 figure. Mixed-race children were 1.9% of those all born that year in Japan.
What are your thoughts on Ariana’s story? Have you ever felt stuck between two cultures?
