is a Japanese model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Universe Japan 2015 Miss Universe Japan 2015 ( ja, 2015 ミス・ユニバース・ジャパン), the Miss Universe Japan pageant, took place in the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, Bunkyō-ku, Tokyo, Japan, on March 12, 2015. Keiko Tsuji of Nagasaki crowned her successor ...

. She represented

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 n ...

at the

Miss Universe 2015 Miss Universe 2015 was the 64th Miss Universe pageant, held at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on December 20, 2015. This was the first edition of the pageant to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, whic ...

pageant and placed in the top 10. She was the first '' hāfu'' (mixed) woman to be Miss Japan.

Early life

Miyamoto was born to a Japanese mother and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

father, Bryant Stanfield, who was stationed at the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

facility in Sasebo. Miyamoto's parents divorced when she was one year old. She attended elementary school in Japan and, at age 13, immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to live with her father in

Jacksonville, Arkansas Jacksonville is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, and a suburb of Little Rock. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 28,364. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock– Conway Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...

, where she attended Jacksonville High School for two years. Upon return to her native Japan, she did not immediately complete high school, but worked odd jobs, including as a bartender. In 2015, Miyamoto won the title of Miss Nagasaki and represented her

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

at the Miss Universe Japan contest.

Discrimination

Miyamoto recalled, "Whenever the teacher told us to hold hands, other children thought my black skin would rub off on them, so they said, 'Don't touch me'". Some of her classmates in Sasebo, Nagasaki would say things like, "Don't swim in the same pool 'cause your skin will rub off on me." Miyamoto was shunned due to her skin color and wavy hair she grew up in Japan. Parents and classmates used the term '' kurombo'' (a racist expression) to refer to her. She also recalls people throwing garbage at her in school. One of Miyamoto's friends, a fellow '' hāfu'', committed suicide after sharing his experiences of social exclusion with her. After her victory, she encountered some people disapproving of her win, mostly in the form of online

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

. This was attributed to ethnicity, as she is not fully Japanese ethnically, and her physical appearance. Some said she looked like too "foreign" (''gaijin''), and another felt she had "too much black blood n herto be Japanese." She is the first '' hāfu'' (mixed) woman to be Miss Japan. Following her win, Miyamoto had to explain to the Japanese media that she was a Japanese citizen, born and raised in the country.

Career

Miss Universe Japan 2015

On 12 March 2015, Miyamoto was crowned as Miss Universe Japan 2015 (Miss Japan 2015) at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo in

Bunkyō is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived th ...

-ku, while Miss Oita and Miss Chiba were runner - ups. As Miss Japan 2015, she represented Japan at

and made it to Top 10.

Miss Universe 2015

As Miss Japan 2015, Miyamoto competed at the

pageant where she made it to the Top 10. Before Miyamoto's placement, Japan placed in the top 15 last in 2008 with Hiroko Mima.

Personal life

On December 1, 2017, Miyamoto registered her marriage to a man from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and later announced her first pregnancy. On December 26, 2020, she posted a video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

indicating she was nine months along in her second pregnancy. On April 29, 2021, she posted an update on the birth of her second child on YouTube, saying the child was her second son. In August 2017, Miyamoto was appointed honorary ambassador of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

for the city of Sasebo in

Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast. N ...

, her hometown and the city that hosts the US Naval base her father was stationed in.

References

External links

Miss Universe Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyamoto, Ariana 1994 births Living people Japanese beauty pageant winners Japanese female models Miss Universe 2015 contestants People from Nagasaki People from Sasebo Japanese people of African-American descent Japanese people of American descent Jacksonville High School (Arkansas) alumni Bartenders