Ukrainian-born Miss Japan gives up her title

TOKYO

The Ukrainian-born winner of this year's Miss Japan beauty pageant and the contest's organizers say she has renounced her title after a magazine published an article about her affair with a married man.

Karolina Shiino was crowned Miss Japan on Jan. 22, setting off public discussion on an old question about what it means to be Japanese in a country where homogeneity and conformity are still valued.

In a message posted on her Instagram site on Feb. 5, Shiino said that after the article came out, she offered to renounce her crown and resign from her modeling agency over it. She says her offer was accepted.

The Weekly Bunshun magazine reported last week that Shiino had been in a relationship with a doctor who is married. Initially, she appeared to confirm the relationship but said she did not know he was married.

Later, she said her earlier explanation “was not true" and that she was aware of his marriage status and that he had a family. She was in a state of shock and fear over the report, and panicked, which is why she was not able to tell the truth, Shiino said, and apologized.

“I’m very sorry for causing the tremendous trouble and for acting as if betraying everyone who has supported me,” she said on Instagram.

Shiino also apologized to the man's partner and his family, as well as other parties involved.

The office of Miss Japan organizers yesterday said that Shiino's renunciation of the title was accepted and added that the slot for the 2024 winner would remain empty.

The organization also said it “takes responsibility" for the ruckus and apologized to sponsors, judges and others involved for “the trouble.” It said it initially defended Shiino, based on her initial explanation that the man she was involved with had told her he was divorced and that she broke up with him when she learned otherwise.

The scandal reignited a wave of criticism of Shiino on social media but also raised some questions about why she was the only one blamed for the affair while the man who was involved with her has not made a single public comment.

In Japan's male-dominated culture, women are still expected to be good mothers and wives and are publicly chastised more than the men in case of extra-marital affairs.

Last year, famous Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue's acting agency suspended her indefinitely from her work contracts over her alleged affair with a married celebrity chef.

Shiino has lived in Japan since moving to the country at the age of 5. Fluent in Japanese, she became a naturalized citizen in 2022. She had worked as a model and said she has as strong a sense of Japanese identity as anyone else, despite her Caucasian look.