Japan's new Miss World is a half-Indian elephant trainer
17:57, 7 September 2016
WASHINGTON, DC. KAZINFORM Many beauty queens boast creative resumes. But it's rare to come across one that holds a license in elephant training.
Priyanka Yoshikawa, a half-Indian, half-Japanese beauty pageant contestant does, however. She was crowned Miss Japan 2016 Monday, becoming only the second biracial beauty queen in the country's history.
Born to an Indian father and a Japanese mother in Tokyo, the 22-year-old's big win came just a year after Ariana Miyamoto, a half-black, half Japanese woman, won the title of Miss Universe Japan 2015. Miyamoto was the first Japanese person of mixed race to win a major beauty pageant in a largely racially homogenous country, and she received a firestorm of negative comments after she was crowned.
But Miyamoto's victory encouraged others to follow in her footsteps.
"I don't know Ariana in person, but I've been a big fan of her. She has inspired me to win the competition," Yoshikawa told CNN.
After Yoshikawa's win on Monday, social media commentators have been mostly supportive.
Read more at CNN
But Miyamoto's victory encouraged others to follow in her footsteps.
"I don't know Ariana in person, but I've been a big fan of her. She has inspired me to win the competition," Yoshikawa told CNN.
After Yoshikawa's win on Monday, social media commentators have been mostly supportive.
Read more at CNN