What do you think about the "look" of women chosen to represent Japan in Miss Universe pageants, such as this year's Miss Universe Japan Emiri Miyasaka, and past winner Riyo Mori and runner-up Kurara

love it! especially Kurara and this year's girl. Not too hot about Mori.

Before Ines Ligron took over the Miss Universe Japan franchise about 10 years, the competition had a low-key, almost sleazy image. The judges were Japanese and I remember always noting that the girls they picked didn't look that beautiful to my eyes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

Now, with the judges being mainly foreign, they go for the more "international" look. There are two attributes, though. The girls should be tall and their hair should be the natural black of Japanese.

The West is the best so forget about the rest.

Not

I like their looks. I don't think much more about it.

I am re-posting my own comment from another thread because it might help explain my thinking better.

I was moved to comment on this because some years ago I attended the Miss Colombia competition & most of the girls there were white & I mean white not pale skinned. They didn’t represent Colombia any more than this girl represents Japan. If the judges on this competition are so narrow minded that they can’t judge beauty internationally then they shouldn’t be doing the judging. The girls in Colombia & the girl above are beautiful girls, but they are not representing the beauty of their country, & they are being chosen because they fit into an accepted look that is western. Just wait until the Clingons (?) hear about this & try entering one of their girls.

OssanAmerica at 08:20 AM JST - 13th May

"I like their looks. I don't think much more about it."

Then you should, it matters

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this case, the judges' eye. The girls are all pretty but in my eye none of them are a patch on my daughter. :-)

Can't say I lose much sleep worrying about beauty pageant queens.

"If you judge a book by its cover, then you judge the look by the lover." Isn't the 'look' just one important facet for the contestants. The ability to not get pregnant out of wedlock, appear in porn, or make politically contentious subjects is also important. The cookie cutter plastic barbie thing is just a part of it.

what I think? I think they should be on the cover of Japan today more often.

grafton -I think you're way too far out there with your ideas about girls having to look "western" in order to compete in International Beauty Pageants. Let's start with what looks "western"; no tribal face paint, no bones through the noses, no plates in the lips, no faces covered in tattoos...is that what you mean? Because such standards of beauty have vanished throughout the "non-western world" save for some aboriginal folks back there somewhere in the jungle. South Americans to a very great extent as I know you are aware, are of mixed races and indeed European ancestry is included. The standard of beauty within each South American country is what you see when you see a Miss Universe contestant from that country, not "let's pick whoever looks the most Eurpoean". And I've said it before and I'll say it again, Miss Universe Japan looks very Japanese. http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4610/77ccwt9.jpg http://media.photobucket.com/image/miyasaka%20emiri/misscontest/japan/Universe_Japan_2009/21.jpg I don't know about you, but I really don't think I'm going to mistake her for Miss Universe Sweden if I happen to run into her in the hotel lobby.

I think Kurara Chibana was the best. She's thin, gentle, helpless look, a typical J woman's look that cheated most men...lol

The girls in Colombia & the girl above are beautiful girls, but they are not representing the beauty of their country

What does that mean, anyway?

Colombia has a wide variety of peoples - indigenous, afro-carribian, mestiza, white - all of whom are Colombian. It makes no sense to say a person of one type is or isn't representative of the country because there is no one look representative of the country.

Same with Japan, but to a smaller extent. I don't know about you but when I walk around a busy city area I see all types of faces, skin colors, hairstyles. All of them are Japanese, all of them fit different ideals of beauty. There is no "Japanese" look - only in porcelain dolls and paintings.

I think the recent beauty queens look fine. Ms Emiri looks really nice, in my opinion.

OssanAmerica at 09:50 AM JST - 13th May

You accuse me of being out there but I wasn’t going so far as the bones through the nose or even the tattoos, which you have to admit are really quite common now in Europe. As for Latin America being racially very mixed. Yes I know, I can name 7 races that are currently running through my own veins. But it would be a mistake to see all Latin American countries in that way, they are not, capital cites to some degree perhaps, but not the countries. Use Peru as an example, do you know what the average Peruvian woman looks like? They are little fat creatures that could be easily mistaken for Japanese. I haven’t done it, but let’s say we did a google search for Miss Universe Peru, do you think she is going to look like one of those little fatties? No, she is going to look very like Miss Universe Japan. I am not saying that either Miss Peru or Miss Japan are beautiful girls, they very obviously are. As I said above, some 10 or 12 years ago I was in Colombia for a Miss (I think) World thing in Cartagena which is not really Indian, it’s very, very black. But the girls on stage were predominately white because that is what gets judged to be beautiful. My ex-wife was with me & she is was both very beautiful & very black, but she would never have been chosen to get on that stage. But she was very representative of the religions women. Is that thinking really so far out?

Moderator: Readers, stay on topic please. The subject is the look of Japanese women in the Miss Universe pageants.

Emiri Miyasaka looks just fine, she doesn’t need you to defend her. But to me she looks like just another mixed race American. It is not her that I am taking objection to, it is the narrow minded judging system that tries to bring all the girls into a single ideal of beauty which is very western.

Since when were beauty contests about thinking?

Hot is hot.

I'm not saying I would do this, but I wouldn't hesitate to escort any one of them, or all three of them, to a high profile conference. If they all went, boy, people would talk. That would evoke a "media event".

meh. not my type

grafton - You seem to argue that Beauty Pageant Contestants aren't "representative" or their respective countries or aren't the average girl from them. Well these are Beauty Pagaents and they aren't looking for "average" at all. I think that what all the contestants have in common is that in their respective countries they are considered beautiful. Or are you suggesting something different?

What do you think about the "look" of women chosen to represent Japan in Miss Universe pageants, such as this year's Miss Universe Japan Emiri Miyasaka, and past winner Riyo Mori and runner-up Kurara Chibana?

Hmmmm. It's very difficult to say. I will have to examine their "look", individually or all together, up-close and at-length over cocktails at a love hotel.

They look like any Can Cam or Ani Cam model in the magazines. Who in turn, or visa versa, look like any 23 year old OL I see whilst taking my lunch in Marunouchi. Why would this look not be considered Japanese? It's the epitome of the current 'Japanese' look, the look of the unmarried office girl on the look-out for an unmarried dotcom owner who doesn't have to wear a tie and knows where all the best restaurants are in Roppongi Hilsu. What could be more Japanese? Anyone who asks for a more traditional look are the ones that are actually trying to caricature these girls. Nothing western about it, this is the look right now in Japan, have a look out of the window right now and tell me you're not in Kyoto..

Makkun70: The Miss Uni girls and the CanCam models are polar opposites. There's nothing even remotely similar about them.

As far as this debate goes, who cares? If they're pictures look good and they can help me nod off to sleep (Kurara and Emily), great! If not (Riyo), I just ignore them. That's all there is to it.

Aside from variations in skin pigmentation and certain racial features, all the female contestants in these pageants seem cast from the same stereotypical mold, i.e., slender, long legs, large breasts, dazzling white teeth, etc.. They are quintessential "Bond Girls" of the type given non-speaking roles in 007 films. Hardly any of them are typical of the countries they represent. I would much rather enjoy the old freak shows they used to have on commercial TV channels, where girls would weep tears of joy for being selected as "Miss Petcha-pai" and "Miss Daikon Ashi." Ah, those were the days!

Yum

Also, I think the 2006 winner was the hottest in the last few years.

Where are the pictures?

and the Miss World contestants even hotter. 2006 was a stunner.

http://missuniversejapan.jp.msn.com/finalist/profile/img/detail/igarashi/img_01.jpg if that's not 'the Can Cam' haircut I don't know what is. Polarize them for me, please...

And they definitely got the winner right this time from what I've seen of the runners...

She looks OK, but does she walk like a baby giraffe in high-heels?

Beauty Pageants are not "Most Representative Looking from your Country" Pageants.

Beauty Pageants are not "Most Representative Looking from your Country" Pageants.

Correct. But the big ones are "Single Cookie-Cutter Causasian style face or you don't qualify" pageants. Boring.

CanCam dress and look for domestic consumption. Miss Uni birds are on the international level.

Correct. But the big ones are "Single Cookie-Cutter Causasian style face >or you don't qualify" pageants. Boring.

Disagree. They are "good looking". That they may appear "caucasian" to you is purely subjective since there is a vast world of caucasian women in this world who are quite fugly.

at the end of the day, any notion of a "national beauty" ends up being a political construction, boiling down to what men expect women to be; oppressive at its heart. how murky do you want the waters to be? best to side-step the issue entirely and just do your best to make as objective a decision as possible.

Beauty Pageants are not "Most Representative Looking from your Country" Pageants.

sums it up very well

As nice balcony and pretty face will always be popular because they imply fertility and vitality. But have you noticed the American perception of beauty has infected the worlds. Not that I'm complaining mind you.

They are no doubt pretty. All are relatively tall. I prefer Riyo Mori personally.

lol, meant Kurara. Samurai outfit was awesome!

Certainly more beautiful than this yr's Miss USA.

She is beautiful, but not typical Japanese. I have to deal with many young Japanese on a daily basis, I have concluded that they do not think they are "beautiful", always comparing themselves with me, a black person (I was surprised for obvious reasons. They go crazy over what they term "My very long legs" and "nice body" I always answer with you are nice too...but this is always strongly denied. (More than the normal modest Japanese denials). I always thought of them as some of the most beautiful women in the world.

This choice is a mere reflection of most of what many Japanese consider to be beautiful. I wish her luck.