New Miss Japan Not Japanese Enough?

Hey guys, welcome to O2JW. It's discussion time and today's topic is about beauty pageants in Japan that ended up with a Miss Japan that's not quite 100% Japanese. She's half Japanese, half African American, and there's basically split sides. Like a lot of people are like, how can someone not full Japanese win? And then other people are like, yeah, she's breaking down the racial barrier. It's progressive thinking. Yeah, we want to talk about that. That's right. So let's talk about it. Yeah, a lot of people don't know, you were actually born in Hokkaido, Japan. So it's like, what if Yi won Miss Japan? Well, that would never happen because I don't have Japanese citizenship. No, but let's say you do, but you're Chinese. No, that's not going to happen. Why not? Because. You have no reason. Well, now there's another girl who she's half black, half Japanese, born in Japan, speaks perfect Japanese. Yeah, she grew up in that culture. There's a quote from her that says she doesn't know how to be anything other than Japanese because she's there. I mean, I have a lot to say about this just because I feel like, okay, I can see why the Japanese people have issues with this, but I feel like it's totally completely unreasonable to have issues with this because Japan is such a, you know, it's a country that's basically all Japanese. It's not like America. So like people are going to be a little bit hesitant to accept, you know, outside cultures because you know. Well, I think like you touched on a very important point. The other point I want to make is that the Japanese people are very prideful. Same thing goes for, let's say Chinese or maybe Thai or, I mean, I don't know too much about the Southeast Asian countries, but at least, you know, I see the scenario if it happened in China or South Korea where let's say a half Chinese or half black person won Miss China. I could see the same, you know, debates. Because China is kind of the same thing. Yeah. China is very similar to Japan in the sense that most people who live there are Chinese. Yeah. And they're very prideful. Like, okay, if you're going to represent my country in the, because she's going on to the Miss Universe pageant. That's right. If you're going to represent my country, Miss Japan at the Miss Universe pageant, but you're not, you don't really look Japanese and you don't, you know, you're like half Japanese. I think a lot of them feel like, well, that's not really representative of us. It's true that in the sense that most people in Japan aren't going to be like her because Japan is mostly completely Japanese people, like 100% Japanese people. But what I find really wrong about this is because, okay, particularly in Japan, because Chinese magazines actually feature mostly Chinese women, but a lot of, and some of the most popular Japanese magazines, and I know this because I'm a big reader of Japanese fashion magazines, they feature halfies. There's this magazine called Vivi. It's arguably one of the most popular fashion magazines in Japan, and like 90% of their models are halfies, and some of them are more than half, you know? So I'm like, if you, obviously people think these women are attractive, that's why they're the ones picked to be models, but somehow it's not okay if a halfie represents your country in the pageant. Like, how is that a problem here? I think this is a big problem that a lot of people brought up to us because they were like, well, I'm mixed, and I grew up maybe in the U.S., and I tried to go back to my ... Adoptive country. Right. And they don't accept me because ... This is a true story. Yeah. A lot of people feel this way. They feel left out because who do they identify with? That's true, yeah. I feel really bad for those people because we really do get letters from adoptees saying that, well, I'm not accepted in America even though I grew up completely Western, and then they have the inclination to go back to South Korea, say, or China to discover their culture and people there just completely shun them. One of the things that's pretty obvious right now is countries like the U.S., Canada, or Australia where the history is not that ... S.D.D. Right. And also, it's really full of immigrants from all parts of the world, so now you get like, if you get something like this happening in these countries, it's not a big deal, but I think the other countries, like you guys said, there hasn't been a lot of contact or openness to other cultures coming in because the predominant people are, they look the same. Right. They are, let's say, Chinese or Japanese or whatever. And they've been there for thousands of years. Right. And that's why, like, if you go to China right now, if you're like a blonde with blue eyes, you're going to get stopped in the streets by people who want to touch your hair. Yeah. They want to pay you to take a picture with them. You know, this stuff does happen. Right. It just goes to show how closed, a lot of times, these countries are, and the number of tourists and foreigners that are in these countries, it still goes to show how, you know, that's still a minority. It's still not like something that's seen all the time. And only in international, like, cities, like Shanghai, well, Hong Kong obviously, but Shanghai, Beijing these days, and some of the other major cities, Tianjin, Chongqing, you know. But like, in other places where Westerners don't really go to or go less frequently, they're still considered to be very much of an outsider. People are very shocked to see them. If you don't look like a traditional, you know, Chinese person. And again, I think that the pride thing, a lot of Asian countries have this pride, like, we've been around for thousands of years, this is who, even if you talk about the fact that, okay, the origins of the Japanese people were the origins of the Japanese language, if it's influenced by other countries, there's still a lot of debate even about that because the pride they have in each other's, you know, each individual country. I mean, like, we would get, like, really killed if we started a debate about, okay, well, honestly, like, the Japanese language, Korean language, they came from Chinese language. The Tang Dynasty, influenced heavily during the Tang Dynasty. Right, but if you said that to people in Japan, they might not take it well because they might think that you're saying, oh, well, we created your culture, or you stole our culture. Well, let me ask you this, though. So, Miss Japan, Ariana Miyamoto, Miss Miyamoto, who is beautiful. She's gorgeous. But she, if you look at the picture, she doesn't look completely Japanese. Obviously, she doesn't look Japanese. Do you guys think that it would have been different, let's say, if she had a hat, but she was more Asian looking? I don't, I don't think it would make a difference. Really? Because I think that the issue people take is, like you said, Mike, with the pride thing, and no matter what you're, you know, like, no matter what you look like, you're still a mix. And I think that people might think that, okay, so I just thought of this, people might even think it's unfair. Like, you know, maybe the other contestants are like, are like, well, it's, it is a Miss Japan competition. She's not fully Japanese. She, they might even think she has an advantage. Some might think she have a, she has a disadvantage. A lot of people might think she has an advantage because she has, like, Western features, you know, and like, people are like, well, you know, then it's not fair that she won, you know? I think, I think, actually, I do think if she looked more Asian, that they would accept it more, because based on the fact that you said before, like, I see a lot of those Japanese magazines and they have a lot of happies in there. So I, we know that it's very accepted in Japan. It's just this competition. Yeah, it's something different. But I think that if she was, looked more Asian, I think maybe it'll be different, which is sad to say. Right. Which is sad to say. Well, I will also want to bring up the fact that, okay, a beauty pageant, according to Miss Congeniality, is a, what do they say, a scholarship program, right? It's not a beauty pageant. It's a scholarship program. And I feel like this pageant, they try to base it less and less on appearances. Right. But really about, like, the inner beauty, I guess, to even, you know, that kind of thing. Your values. Yeah, of a contestant. That's right. So if a contestant like Ariana, who feels she's Japanese, and she really feels so positively about Japan, that she wants to represent, let's say, Japan in the Miss Universe pageant, shouldn't that be, like, the biggest factor for her, instead of what she looks like? It should be, but it's not. Because we live in a society, in a world, where women are more judged based on their looks than their abilities. That's true. Well, I just don't get it. She looks good. She obviously won the judges over with her inner beauty and her smarts. So why can't she just have her title and peace? Like, just leave her alone. This stuff is kind of crazy. Because we grew up here, and a lot of us have faced, to an extent, some sort of racism. That's right. And now this person is kind of like the opposite. They grew up in an Asian country, and they're facing a lot of discrimination. And she's even entering this competition because her friend basically, I think, killed themselves. Right. Yeah. Because of the shame that was put on that person. Right. And she kind of wanted to stand up for that. And that's a really good message. But, you know, this is kind of a funny thing I think about. What if, like, 25 years down the road, every person that's representing the country doesn't look like the people that were once there, right? Like Miss India, Miss Asia. Which is fine. Well, yeah, I'm just throwing that out there. I'm just throwing that out there. But this is a catch-22, right? Because ideally, like you said, you want to judge them based on their inner beauty, their goals, their passion, you know, what they stand for, their values. But so I would say if you had a Miss World or Miss Universe pageant, and everybody looked different, representing different countries and representing the uniqueness and essence of those countries, I'm totally fine with that, right? I'm totally fine with that. But we live, again, you know, in this world today that probably people would have a problem with that. And I don't like that of this world. Well, I think, first of all, kudos to the judges who actually elected her, selected her as Miss Japan. So good going there. That shows a lot of, you know, progressive thinking. That's right. And I think eventually, look, what is a pageant anyway? It's about an individual who wants to represent a specific culture. Right. And isn't that the most important thing? Like if there was an Asian Miss America, which I actually don't know if there ever was. There was probably some in previous years. I'm sure there was. We gotta look it up. You know, people should... Or at least each state. I mean, at some point, you know, California, New York definitely had probably Asian representatives. And let's say there is a Miss China who's like, you know, a blonde, blue-eyed, gorgeous... Speaks mandarin perfectly. Hey, that's awesome. I think that's cool. Well, I think that if the judges... The judges are there to select people who they think will best represent the country, you know? So you should trust them to make the decision. Will there be someone like Ariana every year? Probably not. But if that year that she was the most outstanding contestant, then she should... She deserves to be chosen. The next year, maybe there's a whole array of other people. And the next Miss Japan might not be like Ariana, might be just 100% Japanese. Then that will happen. The judges can make the decision. So I'm just saying. As long as the judges are not doing it based on the novelty, and I don't think they are, then I have no problem with it. No problem with it. Well, Miss Miyamoto, if you're ever in New York, stop by our show. We'd love to have you and we'll take you out for hot pots. That's what we like. Maybe she'll take us for some Japanese hot pot. Shabu-shabu. I don't like shabu-shabu. You don't like shabu-shabu? Because you know why you don't like it? Because the soup base isn't like super spicy. Yeah, that's what you don't... I do like... Why are you not more open to other cuisines? Why you have racist Asian accent? Yeah, seriously, man. That's some racist stuff. You're lucky you're Asian. I mean, shabu-shabu, you put in all the same stuff as you do in hot pot. The soup base is not as good, I feel. It's just water. I just don't like that. Well, it's not just water. There's kombu, which is kelp. Anyway, we're not going to go into a shabu-shabu lesson today. Guys, let us know your feelings about this topic in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching. Bye!