is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

actress, stunt woman, book author, opinion leader, social activist and beauty queen who was crowned

Miss International 2012 Miss International 2012, the 52nd Miss International pageant, was held on October 21, 2012 at Okinawa Prefectural Budokan Arena Building in Okinawa, Japan. Fernanda Cornejo from Ecuador crowned her successor Ikumi Yoshimatsu from Japan at the ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. It was

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's first

Miss International Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

win in the 52-year history of the pageant. In 2014, she was intimidated or criticized by Japanese nationalist or right-wing groups for speaking about in support of the

comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...

issues and has been an outspoken leader for women's rights issues. Yoshimatsu started the "STALKER-ZERO" campaign to introduce strict new laws to protect victims of stalking and intimidation in

, after becoming the first high-profile woman to go public with her own personal experience in an international press conference. She was a featured presenter at

Ted Talks TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

where she advocated for stronger laws to protecting women in Japan. "TED Talks" Ikumi started the Global Student Diplomacy Network in 2015 to connect elementary and middle school classrooms from various countries with each other by skype for cultural exchange. The first exchange featured special guest

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer and songwriter who found fame for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, " Puff, the Magic Dragon". H ...

Peter Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reperto ...

and the governor of

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

, Yasushi Furukawa." She obtained a degree in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

international education International education refers to a dynamic concept that involves a journey or movement of people, minds, or ideas across political and cultural frontiers. It is facilitated by the globalization phenomenon, which increasingly erases the constrai ...

at the University of the Sacred Heart in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Ikumi is both an actress and stunt double for

Tao Okamoto , known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto, one of the biggest models from Japan. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren. She made her film debut as the female le ...

in three episodes of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

''" She is also acting in

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

movie '' 6 Underground''" Ikumi has been cast to star in, and is currectly filming the international action thriller, 10 episodes action series Lightstinger" Ikumi starred as the lead actress in Nico Santucci's movie ''Sarogeto'' starring alongside

Winsor Harmon Winsor Dewey Harmon III (born November 22, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Thorne Forrester on the American soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. He took over the role from Jeff Trachta in December 1996 and stayed with ...

and

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

References

*http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/news/a29072/beauty-queen-ikumi-yoshimatsu-stalker/ *https://news.yahoo.com/beauty-vs-japan-beasts-180000042--politics.html

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshimatsu, Ikumi 1987 births Living people Miss International winners Miss International 2012 delegates Japanese female models Japanese activists Japanese women activists Japanese feminists Japanese beauty pageant winners Actors from Saga Prefecture People from Saga (city) 21st-century Japanese actresses University of the Sacred Heart (Japan) alumni