“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.

  • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    38
    ·
    10 months ago

    Yes everything gets whitewashed and entire culture gets forced out again.

    Why is it that native Americans had to go and make their own pageant so they weren’t forgotten?

    “Japanese” means something, unlike American. When you hear Japanese, you don’t think white person, same with (Native) American. See how I had to specify so you know which? Same thing is happening with these pageants.

    • 520@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      Oh fucking get over yourself.

      The Japanese are hardly an oppressed people, at least by outsiders. They’re a first world country. With their own customs and culture.

      The only dangers to their identity have been those of their own societal making.

      Japan’s native population has been in critical freefall for a long time not because of any white person interference, but because their culture has become increasingly incompatible with family life for a significant amount of their population. If you thought America had an out-of-whack work culture, your jaw would hit the floor when you see what salarymen and salarywomen over there go through.

      It’s not like they’ve been pushed out by a colonial force with some manifest destiny bullshit. The problem here simply isn’t whitey.

      • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        23
        ·
        10 months ago

        Yet they are being forced to accept outside culture since they wouldn’t be “inclusive”….

        It’s whitewashing and there’s nothing to get over, other than we need to stop pushing our cultures on others until there is nothing of their own left.

        Nothing to do with oppression, but of course fallacies help to make your agenda.

        • 520@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          They’re being forced, by nothing more than the mere reality of their situation, to accept outside culture because their societal failures have led to their own population death spiral.

          No one forced their hand or made them take on such damaging traditions and policies. No one is forcing the Japanese to take on elements of other cultures.

          Try doing a bit of research before spouting nonsense theories.

        • FaceDeer@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          They are being “forced” to accept outside culture because their inside culture has led them to a demographic death spiral. Not by any action initiated by outsiders. If outsiders were capable of forcing Japanese culture to change there are plenty of other things that would be changing that aren’t.

          They could always choose to continue following that spiral to oblivion, I suppose. Or they could reform the aspects of their culture that have led them there. Accepting immigration is one of the ways they could do that.

        • WraithGear@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          20
          ·
          10 months ago

          Whitewashing… you keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.

          White washing means to attempt to change history to make something seem less bad than it actually was, or who someone was.

          Do you mean cultural appropriation? Though saying it like that kinda damns your point of view.

          • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            25
            ·
            10 months ago

            There would have to be a term amalgamated, but by the essence of the definition, yes. You would be altering something in favor of another race/ethnicity.

            • yuriy@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              10
              ·
              10 months ago

              Oh golly, please amalgamate a term for it right now. You’re clearly the best person for the job with your enlightened (read: narrow) view of race.

              • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                10 months ago

                Removed under rule 5:

                Rule 5: Keep it civil. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (perjorative, perjorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (perjorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect!

              • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                10
                ·
                10 months ago

                It’s racist for pointing out that “Japanese” means something? “(Native) American” means something? And to bring white washing to light?

                The hypocrites on Lemmy is astounding…

                • Zahille7@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  4
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  Why do you give such a fuck about this? When we say someone is “American” it just means they live here. The same should go for every other country.

                  You’re just a racist troll.

                • clgoh@lemmy.ca
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  Your whole discourse is about race purity. Of course it is racist.