As Gender Equality Advances in Japan, “Miss Contests” Fade

On February 17th, the Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau suspended its Miss Okinawa contest. Held annually since the end of WWII, the beauty pageant eventually evolved into a successful tourism ambassador program.

So why suspend it? The bureau based its decision on a changing social environment and a desire to move away from outdated tourism promotion methods. The move isn’t permanent, as plans to reimagine the contest are underway [1].

A country-wide re-branding

Okinawa is only the latest in a growing trend of tourist organizations rebranding their contests to be more inclusive, spurred in part by dwindling applicants and growing awareness of Japan’s ethnic and sexual diversity.

“For one thing, it’s not necessary for women to be the face of regional and tourist promotions,” one editorial stated [2], “yet it’s also not an issue of popularizing ‘Mister Contests’ and selecting men.” What organizations need to consider is diversity.

Universities are also scrutinizing beauty contests. Popular “Miss Contests” (ミスコン; misu-kon) perpetuate gender stereotypes and beauty standards not everyone can meet. But working towards inclusion is easier said than done.

Beauty Is in the Eyes of the Voters

Beauty pageants aren’t new to Japan. One of the first large-scale beauty pageants took place in 1891 at the first Western skyscraper Ryōunkaku (凌雲閣) in Asakusa. To boost lagging tourism, the operating company posted 100 photographs of geisha and had people vote for their favorites [3].

In 1950, the Yomiuri Shimbun ran an ad for a US-Japan goodwill ambassador. Qualifications were strict. Only high school girls and unmarried women under the age of 26, and no taller than 5 feet 4 inches, were eligible [4].

In the 70s and 80s, beauty pageants came under fire for commodifying women’s bodies and enforcing “lookism,” prejudice based on physical appearances not aligned with society’s arbitrary beauty standards.

Unsurprisingly, racism has also reared its ugly head in these contests. While not as ethically diverse as the US, Japan is far from being the pure homogeneous country many make it out to be. No one knows this better than 2015’s Miss Universe Japan winner Miyamoto Ariana. Some critics (read, racists) questioned whether Miyamoto, who was the first multiracial contestant to land the title, was Japanese enough to represent the country.

Miyamoto, who’d experienced bullying since her childhood, was no stranger to having her identity questioned:

このことがわかって出場しているので、国内から批判の声があがるのは、悲しくないとは言いませんが、想定内ではあります。また、批判がないのであれば出場した意味がないとも思います。国内外のメディアが、私のことを多く取り上げていただければ、人種問題について問題提起をする良いチャンスになると考えています。

“Since I’m competing with this [changing perceptions of multiracial people] in mind, I can’t say I’m saddened by the criticism coming from Japan. It’s only to be expected. But I also believe that it’s useless to compete if there’s no criticism. If both national and overseas media cover my story enough, it’ll be a great opportunity to bring racial issues to light [5].”

Miyamoto did just that. She blew the haters out of the water by placing in the top 10 in the Miss Universe contest.

Progress Being Made?

International contests aside, some cities have already made steps to promote diversity in the tourism sector.

In Gunma Prefecture, the Isesaki city tourism association did away with the unmarried woman requirement and opened applications to all ages, genders, and nationalities. “We want to recruit from a wide range of demographics and choose the most capable people to promote the city in this gender-less and border-less age,” stated a representative of the city’s tourism division [6]. Of the new contest’s three winners, one was a young man with Japanese and Peruvian heritage, perfectly encapsulating the city’s diverse population.

Elsewhere, Awaji-jima in Hyogo Prefecture made similar changes to the once “Queen Awaji” contest. Last year, three women and one man became the revamped contest’s tourism ambassadors. Ichinomiya in Aichi Prefecture ended the beauty contest division of their Tanabata Festival, with organizers stating that “judging only unmarried women based on their physical appearances isn’t in step with the times” [7].

Change at the University Level

Despite touting academic excellence and diversity, university misu-kon also tend to spotlight physical appearance and gender norms. Competition is especially fierce, with contestants campaigning much like politicians. Even placing as a finalist can pave the way for employment at a prestigious company or talent agency. And the winners get decked out in wedding attire — you really can’t get more obvious about stereotypes than that.

The contests have garnered plenty of negative attention in recent years. In 2020, a Tokyo University finalist spoke out about the alleged sexual harassment she endured from contest organizers at a drinking party [8].

Keio University made headlines in 2019 when a finalist in the Mr. Keio contest escaped charges of rape despite police arresting him and four other male students five separate times. Back in 2016, the university ended its Miss Keio contest after someone at a boarding house for the contest’s sponsors sexually assaulted a minor.

Some universities are not outright canceling them. Rather, some, like Hosei University, have instead withdrawn their official recognition of the student groups organizing the contests [8].

Meanwhile, a Tokyo University group wants universities to adopt a more hard-line approach: get rid of the contests altogether. Simply widening the applicant pool, they say, isn’t enough:

『外見だけを考慮しない、他の要素も取り入れたコンテスト』とは、『従来のジェンダー規範に加え、別の規範や判断基準を取り入れたコンテスト』と同じ意味です。こうあるべき像というものが存在し続ける限り、それに苦しませられる人々はいなくなりません。

“‘Contests that don’t just evaluate physical appearance, but incorporate other elements’ is the same as ‘contests that incorporate other norms and judging criteria, in addition to traditional gender norms.’ So long as these ideals continue to exist, there will be no end in sight for the people suffering under them [9].”

Can Lookism Truly Be Stamped Out?

In response to calls for change, students at the prestigious Sophia University removed the gender requirement from Miss Sophia contest applications in 2019. Yet this still presented problems from a gender equality perspective.

Eventually, the organization committee merged the Miss and Mister contests into one – the Sophian Contest, open to all genders. In order to avoid lookism, they revised judging criteria to lower the importance of physical appearance. Instead of wedding attire, finalists wore repurposed clothing and gave speeches on social issues [9].

While the new contest was a success on many fronts, overlooking physical appearances was a challenge. According to committee member Arao Nana, they struggled to overcome the contradiction between honoring diversity and individuality, and the foundation of the contest, which is contingent upon votes to rank finalists and choose the winners.

“The more we respect individuality, the more meaningless the act of choosing a grand prize winner becomes,” she said [9].

It’s certainly not an easy task, especially in a country that consistently ranks low in gender equality. But attempts to uplift marginalized identities and bodies can only be a step in the right direction.

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Sources

[1] 「ミス沖縄」選出事業を休止　沖縄観光コンベンションビューローが発表「社会的環境に変化」. Ryukyu Shimpo.

[2] ＜社説＞ミス沖縄選出休止　多様性重視へ転換の時だ. Ryukyu Shimpo.

[3] 日本で初のミスコンは明治時代。その時のトップ３をご紹介. Japaaan Magazine.

[4] 「美人コンテスト」の歴史. Tanken.

[5] 宮本エリアナさん「人種への偏見、日本と世界からなくしたい」【ミス・ユニバース日本代表】. Huffington Post Japan.

[6] 淡路、姫路でも刷新…女性限定ミスコン曲がり角　年齢や国籍にさえこだわらず「街らしさ」発信. Kobe Shinbun.

[7] ミス東大「セクハラ告発」　最終候補者の間で見解食い違いも. News Post Seven.

[8] 「ミス/ミスターコンテスト」について. Hosei University.

[9] ミスコンを廃止し、新たなコンテストを設立した上智大。学生たちの迷い「100点ではない」. Huffington Post Japan.