MISS UNIVERSE JAPAN 2015

TOKYO, March 13 (UPI) -- A Japanese beauty pageant contestant of African-American and Japanese ancestry was crowned Miss Universe Japan on Thursday.

The winner, Eriana Miyamoto, is from Miyazaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan. She was born to an African-American father and a Japanese mother, Kyodo News reported.
Miyamoto, 22, will represent Japan in the Miss Universe pageant in 2016.

Kotaku, a Japan and technology-focused online media outlet, reported that Miyamoto expressed uneasiness on whether a half-Japanese contestant could represent Japan at an international beauty pageant.

Miyamato, who also spent portions of her childhood in Nagasaki, said that despite her non-Japanese looks, she has many Japanese personality traits.

Miyamoto's victory drew criticism on Japanese websites, with some questioning whether she could represent Japan as a "hafu," or half-Japanese. One commenter wrote, "It makes me uncomfortable to say she's representing Japan."

Other commenters called such criticism "outdated."

Japan's foreign population remains relatively low, comprising less than 2 percent of the whole.

According to Japanese immigration records, in 2008 the non-Japanese population identified as permanent residents was estimated at 2.2 million and annually some 20,000 half-Japanese are born in Japan.

Chinese, Koreans and Filipinos are the largest groups represented.

In 2014, The New York Times reported that Japan's aging population and low birth rate has the country facing an imminent labor shortage but it has been slow to open up immigration to much needed workers.