A beauty queen has once again re-ignited a debate on what it means to be Japanese.

“There have been racial barriers, and it has been challenging to be accepted as Japanese.”

That’s what a tearful Carolina Shiino said in impeccable Japanese after she was crowned Miss Japan on Monday.

The 26-year-old model, who was born in Ukraine, moved to Japan at the age of five and was raised in Nagoya.

She is the first naturalised Japanese citizen to win the pageant, but her victory has re-ignited a debate on what it means to be Japanese.

While some recognised her victory as a “sign of the times”, others have said she does not look like what a “Miss Japan” should.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    31·
    10 months ago

    There’s simply nothing good that comes from this

    Oh, it was certainly very bad for my ancestors, but the lesson there isn’t “It’s better to assimilate,” but rather “Even if you do everything to assimilate, your neighbors won’t accept you, so remember that you’re different. At least that way, you’ll be prepared.”

    Since [the Amish are] common, you just get used to them.

    I wouldn’t say that - IMO, since the Amish are very rare, they’re seen as an amusing curiosity rather than as any sort of threat. If they really were common, there probably would have been more hostility.

    • Candelestine@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      10 months ago

      It’s regional. Your experiences wherever you live are not reflective of the experiences of people that live nearby to Amish communities, where they are not a rare or amusing curiosity. They’re just the people down the highway a bit.