Miss Japan relinquishes title over affair issue

A Ukrainian-born model crowned Miss Japan has been forced to give up her title after having an affair with a married man.

Karolina Shiino, 26, a naturalized Japanese citizen who had already generated attention for winning the title despite not being ethnically Japanese, relinquished her crown after just two weeks.

Her decision to leave the role came after it emerged she had been in a relationship with a married physician and influencer known as “muscle doctor”, in defiance of the puritanical culture that surrounds beauty pageants and expectation that contestants be blemish-free.

Following the revelations in a news article by the magazine The Shukan Bunshun, organizers of the event released a statement saying the model had “requested to withdraw from the contest due to personal reasons”.

There were several runners-up in the pageant but Kaoru Wada, chairman of the Miss Japan Association, said the 2024 title would remain “vacant”.