Karolina Shiino Ukraine born Miss Japan gives up crown over secret affair with married man amid scrutiny over her win and what it really means to be Japanese. Would she have been made to give up crown over affair had she been born Japanese born?
Not Japanese enough as much as she tried… The Ukraine-born winner of the Miss Japan beauty pageant has been forced to give(n) up her crown after a tabloid report revealed her affair with a married man.
Karolina Shiino, 26, was crowned Miss Japan two weeks ago but her win sparked public debate due to her heritage.
While some welcomed the naturalised citizen’s crowning, others said she didn’t represent traditional Japanese beauty ideals. While others wondered if Japan, a close knit society was necessarily ready to embrace other cultures, standards and creeds – despite its deep antipathy towards foreigners.
Secret affair
Amid the furore, a local magazine published an expose alleging an affair, the Japan Times reported.
The article in the Shukan Bunshun reported that Ms Shiino had engaged in a relationship with a married influencer and doctor. The man has not provided any public comment.
In its initial response to the report last week, the pageant organisers defended Ms Shiino, saying she hadn’t known the man was married.
However on Monday, organisers said Shiino had confessed to knowing about the man’s marriage and family.
Her agency Free Wave said in a statement on its website on Monday that the doctor initially said he was single, but Shiino continued the relationship even after she came to know that he was married.
She had apologised for being misleading and organisers had accepted her title resignation, the Miss Japan Association said.
But what if she had been Japanese born, would she have still have given away crown?
Ms Shiino also apologised to her fans and the general public in a statement on Monday, where she said she had acted out of fear and panic in response to the report, the BBC reported.
‘I am truly sorry for the huge trouble I have caused and for betraying those who supported me,’ she said.
The Miss Japan title will now remain vacant for the rest of the year, although there were several runner-ups.
It remained unclear had Shiino been born Japanese whether her having an affair would have resulted in her being forced to give up her Miss Japan beauty pageant title.
The competition had crowned Ms Shiino on 22 January – the first person of European descent to be given the honour. She was born in Ukraine before moving with her mother to Japan when she was five and taking on her step-father’s Japanese last name.
She speaks and writes fluent Japanese and became a naturalised citizen in 2022.
What does it mean to be Japanese anyway?
At the time of her win, the caucasian beauty’s ascent as newly crowned Miss Japan rekindled a debate about what it means to be Japanese.
Shiino has discussed struggling with her identity growing up — that she looked different from her classmates and friends but still felt she was Japanese.
‘All my life I’ve been told I’m not Japanese enough, both directly and indirectly, but I know I am Japanese. I can’t help it. Nobody has the right to tell me I’m not,’ Shiino previously told the Japan Times.
‘I don’t think it’s one thing that makes you Japanese. What I do know is that it’s a matter of the heart,’ she previously said. ‘If a person thinks she is Japanese, then she is.’
Upon receiving the title, she had said in her speech: ‘I had not been accepted as Japanese many times, but I am filled with gratitude to have been recognized as Japanese today.’
Or has she? Or will she ever be…?
