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{{Short description|Japanese model}}{{Eastern name order|Miyamoto Eriana Mamiko}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

factoids

| birth_place = Nagasaki, Japan58m}}MISS UNIVERSE 2015: ARIANA MIYAMOTO >WEBSITE=MISS UNIVERSE URL=HTTPS://WWW.MISSUNIVERSE.COM/CONTESTANT/662838 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20171224155418/HTTPS://WWW.MISSUNIVERSE.COM/CONTESTANT/662838, 2017-12-24, | hair_color = Black| eye_color = Brown| title = Miss Universe Japan 2015| competitions = Miss Universe Japan 2015(Winner)Miss Universe 2015(Top 10)}}{{Nihongo|Ariana Mamiko Miyamoto|宮本・エリアナ・磨美子|Miyamoto Eriana Mamiko|born 12 May 1994}} is a Japanese model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Japan 2015. She represented Japan at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant and placed in the top 10. She was the first hāfu or multiracial woman to be Miss Japan.

Early life

Miyamoto was born to a Japanese mother and African American father, Bryant Stanfield, who was stationed at the United States Navy facility in Sasebo.NEWS, Spitzer, Kirk, 2015-05-30, Beauty queen fights racial bias in Japan, USA Today,weblink 2015-05-31, Miyamoto's parents divorced when she was one year old.WEB, Wofford, Taylor, 2015-06-06, A Half-Black Japanese Beauty Queen Is Raising Eyebrows—But Will She Change Minds?,weblink 2021-05-10, Newsweek, en, She attended elementary school in Japan and, at age 13, immigrated to the United States to live with her father in Jacksonville, Arkansas, where she attended Jacksonville High School for two years. Upon return to her native Japan, she did not immediately complete high school, but worked odd jobs, including as a bartender.NEWS, Holley, Peter, 2015-03-20, Why some critics think Japan's Miss Universe contestant isn't Japanese enough, The Washington Post,weblink 2015-03-24, Miyamoto, who grew up in Japan but moved to the United States for high school, has cited Mariah Carey as a major inspiration because of the singer's multiracial background..., NEWS, Akcasu, Audrey, 2015-03-15, Half-Japanese beauty chosen to represent Japan at Miss Universe 2015, RocketNews24,weblink March 24, 2015, After junior high graduation in Sasebo, she spent her high school years studying in the US. Upon returning to Japan as a young adult she set her sights on becoming a model., NEWS, Fackler, Martin, 2015-05-29, Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan's Self-Image, The New York Times,weblink 2015-05-31, She said everything changed at age 13 when she decided to reach out to her father, who invited her to his home in Jacksonville, Ark., WEB, Brantley, Max, 2015-04-14, Former Arkansas student's racial heritage stirs controversy as Miss Japan Universe,weblink 2021-05-10, Arkansas Times, en-US, In 2015, Miyamoto won the title of Miss Nagasaki and represented her prefecture at the Miss Universe Japan contest.WEB, 2015-04-13, Ariana Miyamoto, first biracial Miss Japan, brings light to racial issues in her country,weblink 2015-05-12, CBS News, WEB, Takanashi, Kosuke, 2015-05-08, Multiracial Miss Universe Japan Symbolizes The Country's Transformation,weblink 2015-05-12, The Huffington Post,

Career

Miss Universe Japan 2015

On 12 March 2015, Miyamoto was crowned as Miss Universe Japan 2015 (Miss Japan 2015) at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo in Bunkyō-ku, while Miss Oita and Miss Chiba were runner - ups. As Miss Japan 2015, she represented Japan at Miss Universe 2015 and made it to Top 10.WEB, McNeil, Baye, 2015-03-18, From a minstrel no-show to a black beauty queen, in a week,weblink 2015-05-12, The Japan Times, WEB, Olya, Gabrielle, 2015-03-23, Miss Universe Japan Ariana Miyamoto Criticized for Not Being Japanese Enough,weblink 2021-05-10, People Magazine, en, WEB, Vulpo, Mike, 2015-03-23, Miss Universe Japan Facing Backlash at Home From Those Who Object to Biracial Beauty Queen Taking the Crown: Get the Details,weblink 2015-05-12, E! Online,

Miss Universe 2015

As Miss Japan 2015, Miyamoto competed at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant where she made it to the Top 10.WEB, Kartikawati, Eny, 2015-12-21, 3 Wakil Asia di 10 Besar Miss Universe 2015, Indonesia Tak Masuk,weblink 2021-05-09, Wolipop via detik.com, id, WEB, Alviar, Vaughn, 2017-01-21, Bashing Miss Universe,weblink 2021-05-10, Philippine Daily Inquirer Lifestyle, en-US, WEB, 2017-12-28, 宮本エリアナ、香港出身の一般男性と結婚「ＭｉｓｓからＭｒｓ．に」,weblink 2021-05-09, Sankei News West, ja, Before Miyamoto's placement, Japan placed in the top 15 last in 2008 with Hiroko Mima.WEB, 2008-07-14, Latinas crowd Miss Universe '08 top 10,weblink 2021-05-10, ABS-CBN News, en,

Personal life

On December 1, 2017, Miyamoto married her husband, who is from Hong Kong, and later announced her first pregnancy. On December 26, 2020, she posted a video on YouTube indicating she was nine months pregnant with her second child.WEB, Miyamoto, Ariana, 2020-12-26, [9month pregnant] 第二子妊娠中!! 体調の変化や体重などについて🤰🏽{{!, |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9fYC74Wts|access-date=2021-01-26|website=Ariana Miyamoto via YouTube}} On April 29, 2021, she posted an update on the birth of her second child on YouTube, saying she had given birth to her second son.WEB, Miyamoto, Ariana, 2021-04-29, 可愛い赤ちゃんを無事出産しました♡ {{!, My baby was born|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJc3QtKc_w|access-date=2021-05-09|website=Ariana Miyamoto via YouTube}}In August 2017, Miyamoto was appointed the honorary ambassador of tourism for the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, her hometown, and the city that hosts the US Naval base her father was stationed in.WEB, 2017-08-15, 観光名誉大使：宮本エリアナさん「佐世保の魅力をＰＲ」,weblink 2021-05-10, The Mainichi Shimbun, ja, NEWS, Holley, Peter, 2015-05-13, Japan's half-black Miss Universe says discrimination gives her 'extra motivation',weblink 2021-05-09, The Washington Post,

Discrimination

{{See also|Ethnic issues in Japan}}Miyamoto recalled, "Whenever the teacher told us to hold hands, other children thought my black skin would rub off on them, so they said, 'Don't touch me'". Some of her classmates in Sasebo, Nagasaki would say things like, "Don't swim in the same pool 'cause your skin will rub off on me."NEWS, Nagata, Masatoshi, 2015-08-06, Not Japanese Enough? Miss Universe Japan looks to fight prejudice » Nichi Bei,weblink 2021-05-10, Nichi bei News, Miyamoto was shunned due to her skin color and wavy hair while she grew up in Japan.WEB, Wesby, Maya, 2015-08-19, Japan's Problem With Race,weblink 2021-05-10, Newsweek, en, Parents and classmates used the term (wikt:黒んぼ|kurombo) (a racist expression) to refer to her. She also recalls people throwing garbage at her in school. One of Miyamoto's friends, a fellow hāfu, committed suicide after sharing his experiences of social exclusion with her.NEWS, Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert, 2015-06-04, The beauty contest winner making Japan look at itself, en-GB, BBC News,weblink 2021-05-10, After her victory, she encountered some people disapproving of her win, mostly in the form of online social media. This was attributed to ethnicity, as she is not fully Japanese ethnically, and her physical appearance. Some said she looked like too "foreign" (gaijin), and another felt she had "too much black blood [in her] to be Japanese." She is the first hāfu (mixed) woman to be Miss Japan.WEB,weblink The First Multiracial Miss Universe Japan Has Been Crowned, NBC News, 17 March 2015, 12 May 2015, WEB, Lies, Elaine, Ito, Shiori, 2015-04-02, Multiracial Miss Japan hopes to change homeland's thinking on identity,weblink 12 May 2015, Reuters, WEB, Choon, Chang May, 2015-03-27, First biracial Miss Universe Japan slammed for not being 'Japanese enough',weblink 2021-05-10, The Jakarta Post, en, Following her win, Miyamoto had to explain to the Japanese media that she was a Japanese citizen, born and raised in the country.

References

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External links

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070626065550weblink">Miss Universe Japan

{{Miss Universe 2015 delegates}}{{authority control}}