[WORLDWIDE NEWS]

“People don’t believe I am Japanese”, says Miss Japan 2015. [BBC NEWS]

[BBC NEWS WORLDWIDE-ASIA]

(Japan, 2015) Miss Japan 2015 has just been held, but it’s exactly provokes debate. What makes it provokes debate from many people is because of the winner is the first mixed-race lady that win Miss Japan competition.

Her name is Ariana Miyamoto. She is the daughter of a Japanese woman with an African-American man, so that’s why she has a mixed-race face like that. Ariana Miyamoto has become the first bi-racial woman to be crowned Miss Japan. But of course, beside the positive responses from the people all over the world, it also provokes debate and causes many negative responses and scorns from the people, especially from the Japanese.

“I lived in Japan all my life, but if I say I’m a Japanese then people reply, ‘No, you can’t be’. They don’t believe it,” she said to the BBC News’ reporter. In Japan, someone like Ariana is known as “Hafu”, that means someone who is not a foreign, but also not fully Japanese.

“When I walk down the street here, no Japanese people recognize me. But lots of foreign stop and say congratulations to me,” she said again. Many of Japan’s netizen and media that ignored her victory. Some of them ask about “Is it okay to select a ‘Hafu’ to represent Japan?” Then another says, “It makes me uncomfortable to say she’s representing Japan”.

Japan still has a very narrow definition of what it means to be Japanese. It’s build on the myth that Japanese is unique and special. Of course it’s not true but the Japanese still believe on it, that’s why someone like Ariana is not fully accepted by The Japanese there. So, we can conclude from this news that most of Japanese are still hard to accept the Hafu or biracial person to become one of their race.

Reported by : Rupert Wingfield-Hayes

Video link : http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-33017344/miss-japan-first-mixed-race-winner-provokes-debate

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