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       The Brief Reign of Japan’s First Foreign-Born Beauty Queen

       Karolina Shiino, a naturalized Japanese citizen who was born in Ukraine, resigned two weeks after winning the Miss Japan crown.

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       Karolina Shiino, center, posing with other prize winners after she won the Miss Japan 2024 contest, in Tokyo, last month, in this handout photograph from Miss Japan Association. Credit...Miss Japan Association, via Reuters

       By Victoria Kim and Hisako Ueno

       Feb. 8, 2024

       The newly crowned Miss Japan 2024, statuesque in an embroidered column dress, sauntered center stage and said through tears that she finally felt accepted in a nation she’d called home since she was 5.

       Karolina Shiino, a Ukraine-born model, won the Miss Japan title in January, a few months after she had been naturalized as a Japanese citizen. That made her the first foreign-born woman to wear a crown meant to signify the “foremost beauty of all Japanese women.”

       The crowning of Ms. Shiino, 26, was the latest test of what it means to be Japanese, at a time when the country has record numbers of resident foreign nationals and faces a demographic crisis that will require businesses across the country to recruit more foreign workers in the future.

       But this week, barely two weeks after Ms. Shiino’s victory, her reign came to an unceremonious end — not for questions of identity, but over an affair with a married man that had been splashed in the pages of a tabloid.

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       Here’s what happened.

       A historic crown Ms. Shiino, contestant No. 1 among a dozen finalists, was selected after a competition at a hotel in Tokyo that involved a strut in a sports bra and shorts, and a kimono round for which she wore a peach pink one with a chrysanthemum pattern and zori sandals.

       More on Japan A Foreign-Born Beauty Queen: Karolina Shiino, a Ukraine-born model, won the Miss Japan title in January, a few months after she had been naturalized as a Japanese citizen. Then, her reign came to an unceremonious end over an affair with a married man. A Talk Show Star: Tetsuko Kuroyanagi has been one of Japan’s best-known entertainers for seven decades. At 90, she’s still going strong. Orphan Capsules: The Nakagin Capsule Tower was once hailed as a marvel of architecture. After its dismantlement, its legacy lives on through 23 pods from the original structure that are being repurposed as art spaces and museum pieces. Plane Collision: The flight crew of a Japan Airlines plane evacuated all 367 passengers and 12 crew members safely after the jet collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft while landing at Haneda Airport. But five Coast Guard members were killed.

       When she won, she said it felt like an affirmation she had long sought.

       “Even though I live as a Japanese person, due to racial barriers, I was not accepted on many occasions,” she said after her selection, in fluent Japanese. “But this time I was recognized as Japanese, and I am full with so much gratitude.”

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       Victoria Kim is a correspondent based in Seoul, focused on international breaking news coverage. More about Victoria Kim

       Hisako Ueno has been reporting on Japanese politics, business, gender, labor and culture for The Times since 2012. She previously worked for the Tokyo bureau of The Los Angeles Times from 1999 to 2009. More about Hisako Ueno

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