Ukranian-born Miss Japan gives up her crown after affair
Weeks after Ukranian-born Karolina Shiino was crowned Miss Japan, she relinquished the title following a report that she was having an affair with a married man.
Shiino, who grew up in the country, became the first person of European descent to win the Miss Japan Grand Prix on Jan. 22, sparking debate as others questioned if she represented Japanese beauty.
A local weekly magazine, Shukan Bunshun, later came out with an article alleging the beauty queen was engaged in a relationship with a married influencer doctor.
Responding to the report, Shiino told her model agency Free Wave Co. that she ended the relationship as she learned the man was married, but a statement later was released saying she continued seeing him even after the fact.
Initially, the Miss Japan Association backed the beauty queen's claims but on Feb. 5, they issued a statement about accepting her request to give up her crown.
Shiino also took to Instagram on Monday to post a public apology to the man's wife and family members, the pageant organizers, and her supporters.
"There was a difference from the facts in what I explained to my agency the other day," she wrote in Japanese. "I can't tell the truth out of confusion and fear."
"I'm really sorry that I conveyed something that is not true to everyone who has supported me. I take this situation seriously and have declined the Miss Japan Grand Prix crown," she continued, adding that she requested for her agency to remove her affiliation.
The Miss Japan title will now be vacant for the rest of the year.
Shiino won the title on Jan. 22, becoming the first person of European descent to do so. The 26-year-old was born in Ukraine and grew up in Japan, taking her Japanese stepfather's last name. In 2022, she became a naturalized Japanese citizen.
When she won her crown, she said in her acceptance speech, "I had not been accepted as Japanese many times, but I am filled with gratitude to have been recognized as Japanese today."