The title was “Can a Hafu represent Japan?”. Ariana Minamoto, who has a beautiful smile and a calm self-confidence, was crowned Miss Universe Japan in 2015. Japanese media paid attention to her not because of her beauty, because of her skin color. She was born and raised in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese as same as me. However, Japanese see her as a foreigner and an outsider because she has black skin color, longer legs, and bigger eyes. She is a hafu with a Japanese mother and an African-American father. After Ms. Miyamoto won her right to represent Japan on the global stage at the international Miss Universe pageant, many Japanese had a hard time accepting her as Japanese. Minamoto said, “I don’t think the equivalent word for hafu exists overseas, but in Japan you need it to explain who you are”. Japanese media reports local people’s strong opinion. For example, “She represents Japan! Being hafu is irrelevant.” and “I didn’t know Miss Japan doesn’t have to be pure Japanese… What a shock!” I read this articles from the American yahoo news. The American journalist tells that how Japanese has a strong stereotypes. Minamoto said, “I think the Japanese like to stereotype. But I think we need to change that.” I agree with her opinion. I’m glad that she has fought her stereotypes and showed her straggle to Japanese media. It was not easy thing to have done. I believe that Minamoto’s victory has brought big difference in
The title was “Can a Hafu represent Japan?”. Ariana Minamoto, who has a beautiful smile and a calm self-confidence, was crowned Miss Universe Japan in 2015. Japanese media paid attention to her not because of her beauty, because of her skin color. She was born and raised in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese as same as me. However, Japanese see her as a foreigner and an outsider because she has black skin color, longer legs, and bigger eyes. She is a hafu with a Japanese mother and an African-American father. After Ms. Miyamoto won her right to represent Japan on the global stage at the international Miss Universe pageant, many Japanese had a hard time accepting her as Japanese. Minamoto said, “I don’t think the equivalent word for hafu exists overseas, but in Japan you need it to explain who you are”. Japanese media reports local people’s strong opinion. For example, “She represents Japan! Being hafu is irrelevant.” and “I didn’t know Miss Japan doesn’t have to be pure Japanese… What a shock!” I read this articles from the American yahoo news. The American journalist tells that how Japanese has a strong stereotypes. Minamoto said, “I think the Japanese like to stereotype. But I think we need to change that.” I agree with her opinion. I’m glad that she has fought her stereotypes and showed her straggle to Japanese media. It was not easy thing to have done. I believe that Minamoto’s victory has brought big difference in