TOKYO -- Eriana Miyamoto being crowned Miss Japan 2015 and thus selected to represent Japan in the upcoming Miss Universe pageant has caused something of a furore here as the twenty-year-old beauty's detractors are claiming she is not " Japanese."
Miyamoto, who was born in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, and has spent the majority of her life in Japan bar a stint in the United States where she went to study, is, indisputably, a Japanese citizen. But remarks in the press and on social media have done little to celebrate Japan's move towards embracing diversity.
At the heart of the "controversy" is the fact that Miyamoto is mixed-raced, being born to an African-American father and a Japanese mother, making the winner of the internationally- celebrated beauty pageant of Japanese nationality, yet Afro- Japanese ethnicity, a facet that would barely raise an eyebrow in similar global pageants that in recent history have seen a host of ethnically-diverse belles take the crown.
But race, ethnicity and homogeneity in Japan remains a thorny issue, and while popular culture has recently embraced and elevated a growing number of mixed-race nationals in Japan to celebrity status, known colloquially as "hafu" -- those of a mixed- race, Japanese heritage and typically those who are half Japanese and half non-Japanese -- the phonetic expression here for "half", there remains an archaic ideology in Japan that those with "mixed blood" are not truly "Japanese."
"Isn't Miss Japan supposed to reflect the beauty of a real Japanese young lady, not a mixed-blooded foreigner?" quizzed one critic on Twitter. "How can someone who doesn't even look Japanese represent this country in the Miss Universe competition?" queried another.
Other comments on popular social media sites and online blogs were less backwards in coming forward about their racist sentiments. "They should do blood tests before such events and if a contestants' DNA is less than 100 percent Japanese they should not be allowed to participate," one spiteful remark read. Another claimed that being "half" meant that the "other" half was "less than human."
But as experts attest, Japan's incessant claims about homogeneity and the false sense of superiority somehow derived from this misconception, are utterly baseless.
"I am Japanese and even I know that historically Japan's bloodline is hugely mixed, with historical and DNA evidence proving this island nation has blood ties with Southeast Asia, North Asia and Astronesia and probably more," Keiko Gono, a leading sociologist told Xinhua.
"In fact, independent DNA studies have confirmed irrevocably that around 54 percent of paternal lineage here and 66 of maternal lineage is of Sino-Korean origin, and any individual or factions claiming otherwise are simply deluded and probably still believe the earth is flat," Gono said.
But thanks to mixed-race celebrity A-listers like Becky, Rola, Jessica Michibata and Elli-Rose, all of whom regularly grace the covers of glossy fashion magazines, commandeer the lenses at fashion shows and, more often than not, out-wit and out-style their"Japanese" counterparts on TV shows, perhaps the tables of conservative and intolerant Japan are slowly beginning to turn.
And while the stunning Minamoto may have her "haters" out there, she has already endeared herself to thousands as well, who wish her nothing but success on her journey representing Japan overseas.
"I'm thrilled someone who appears untraditional is representing Japan in a global competition, as like it or not, things are changing here and, thankfully, change is a force greater than ignorance," Gono said, adding that she hoped Miyamoto would go on to win the Miss Universe pageant.
