Ariana Miyamoto | |
|---|---|
宮本エリアナ | |
| Born | Ariana Mamiko Miyamoto (1994-05-12)12 May 1994 (age 30) |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss Universe Japan 2015 |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Major competition(s) | Miss Universe Japan 2015 (Winner) Miss Universe 2015 (Top 10) |
Ariana Mamiko Miyamoto (宮本・エリアナ・磨美子,Miyamoto Eriana Mamiko, born 12 May 1994) is a Japanese model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crownedMiss Universe Japan 2015. She represented Japan at theMiss Universe 2015 pageant and placed in the Top 10. In 2015 she became the firsthāfu or multiracial woman to be Miss Japan.[3][4]
Miyamoto was born to a Japanese mother andAfrican American father, Bryant Stanfield, who was stationed at theUnited States Navy facility inSasebo.[5] Miyamoto's parents divorced when she was one year old.[6] She attended elementary school in Japan and, at age 13, immigrated to theUnited States to live with her father inJacksonville, Arkansas, where she attendedJacksonville 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.[7][8][9][10]
In 2015, Miyamoto won the title of Miss Nagasaki and represented herprefecture at theMiss Universe Japan contest.[11][12]
On 12 March 2015, Miyamoto was crowned as Miss Universe Japan 2015 (Miss Japan 2015) atHotel Chinzanso Tokyo inBunkyō-ku, while Miss Oita and Miss Chiba were runner-ups. As Miss Japan 2015, she represented Japan atMiss Universe 2015 and made it to Top 10.[13][14][15][16]
As Miss Japan 2015, Miyamoto competed at theMiss Universe 2015 pageant where she made it to the Top 10.[17][18][19] Before Miyamoto's placement, Japan last placed in the top 15 seven years prior in 2008 withHiroko Mima.[20]
On December 1, 2017, Miyamoto married her husband, who is fromHong Kong, and later announced her first pregnancy.[19] On December 26, 2020, she posted a video onYouTube indicating she was nine months pregnant with her second child.[21] On April 29, 2021, she posted an update on the birth of her second child on YouTube, saying she had given birth to her second son.[22] The couple divorced in 2022.[23]
In August 2017, Miyamoto was appointed the honorary ambassador oftourism for the city ofSasebo inNagasaki Prefecture, her hometown, and the city that hosts theUS Naval base her father was stationed in.[24][25]
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'".[11] 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."[26] Miyamoto was shunned due to her skin color and wavy hair while she grew up in Japan.[27] Parents and classmates used the termkurombo (a racist expression) to refer to her.[27] She also recalls people throwing garbage at her in school.[16] One of Miyamoto's friends, a fellowhāfu, committed suicide after sharing his experiences of social exclusion with her.[28]
After her victory, she encountered some people disapproving of her win, mostly in the form of onlinesocial media. 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 [in her] to be Japanese."[16] She is the firsthāfu (mixed) woman to be Miss Japan.[3][4][16] Following her win, Miyamoto had to explain to the Japanese media that she was a Japanese citizen, born and raised in the country.[16]
Miyamoto, who grew up in Japan but moved to the United States for high school, has cited Mariah Carey as a major inspiration because of the singer's multiracial background...
After junior high graduation in Sasebo, she spent her high school years studying in the US. Upon returning to Japan as a young adult she set her sights on becoming a model.
She said everything changed at age 13 when she decided to reach out to her father, who invited her to his home in Jacksonville, Ark.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Miss Universe Japan 2015 | Succeeded by |