“What? No Oscar Promotion girl at this year’s Miss World Japan?” says a pageant fan who has been following Missosology Japan for so long.
Such surprising revelation was made known as soon as the contestants of Miss World Japan 2016 were announced to the public. Many pageant experts are not convinced, though, and are suspicious with the sudden disappearance of an “Oscar girl” in the roster of finalists. Since 2013, when the Miss World franchise was given to its current license holder after nearly five decades of being with the Miss International Organization, only one criteria has become the deterring factor of winning the Miss World Japan crown: she must be a contract model of Oscar Promotion, a leading talent agency in Japan which handles popular TV stars, actors and models in the country.
Pageant fans and families of contestants at Miss World Japan during the previous years have raised their concerns regarding the favoritism towards girls from Oscar Promotion, with absolute disregard towards the other important criteria. In 2013, no contest was held but the beautiful Michiko Tanaka was appointed via an online selection and went on to compete in Bali, Indonesia. She was unplaced. In 2014, Hikaru Kawai, who was nowhere to be found in important events like the talent competition, English speech and sport events, and had no active multimedia account, went on to win the title after being judged as the Top Model winner, with her boss from Oscar Promotion sitting as one of the judges. Kawai went on to compete in London, and was totally ignored by the judges. Last year, and for the third consecutive year another Oscar girl was crowned in the person of Chika Nakagawa. Hitomi Yoshioka, who was Kawai’s runner-up in 2014 and was the most visible girl in terms of charity works representing the Miss World Japan organization, only ended up as runner-up, again. Yoshioka is not a talent of Oscar Promotion. In Sanya, Nakagawa’s name was nowhere to be found in the Top 30 of the Miss World 2015 leader board, and became a clapper during the pageant night.
MISS WORLD JAPAN 2016
Final Hot Picks
If indeed there is no Oscar girl at this year’s Miss World Japan competition, and if the judging is done fair and square, here are the girls whom Missosology fans from around the world have chosen as the rightful winners:
1. Himawari Yamashita – There is no doubt that Himawari is the one to beat at this year’s competition. This multilingual, multi-talented and intelligent young woman is trying her luck for the second time after placing in the Top 10 last year.
2. Seina Tsunoda – The very photogenic Seina has lots of fans outside of Japan. At 164 cm, she may be considered short per pageant standard, but her healthy physique and stage presence more than make up for it. She is the “Face of the Pageant”.
3. Natsuki Robertson – Natsuki was also a Top 10 finalist at last year’s Miss World Japan competition, and was originally chosen as a finalist at Miss Earth Japan 2016, but she backed out. Natsuki’s cuteness suits well among the Japanese crowd, and there is no doubt that she has one of the most engaging smiles from among the contestants.
4. Shiori Furuta – Many fans really like Shiori, but they hope to see her in natural black hair instead of the brown one, which she sports in the official photo. Male judges would certainly love Shiori’s sexy stance and demeanor, but we are more eager to know how she handles English conversation, which is very important in the international contest.
5. Aya Izaki – Aya traveled all the way from Singapore just to compete at Miss World Japan, and she is very determined to win the crown. Being fluent in English is one of her strong points, and with proper training and guidance, she will make a great delegate in the world finals.
6. Priyanka Yoshikawa – This half-Indian stunner is our dark horse in the pageant. Her Indian background will certainly work well with the organization, considering that every year the Miss World Japan winner and runners-up travel to India for charity works.
7. Yuka Kimura – She has the charming look which a lot of fans really appreciate, and seems amiable. Aside from Himawari, we consider Yuka to have the classic Japanese look that we normally see in pageants back in the early years.
8. Maria Kay Nuzzo – Maria gives us the positive aura with her infectious smile, and we expect her to do well in the speech competition.
9. Misato Makino – Misato could easily win the Top Model award with her looks alone, but in Japan, the preference is somewhat different.
10. Satoko Oki – What we noticed right away about Satoko is her exotic look, which is highly favored by foreigners, but not really in Japan.
Some of the contestants at this year’s Miss World Japan contest are not qualified to compete in the international contest, which stipulates that the delegate has to be between 17 to 26 years old. In the official Miss World Japan website, the age of the contestants are not revealed.
So, what about you guys? Who do you think deserves to win the Miss World Japan 2016 title?
Grand finals of Miss World Japan 2016 will be held on September 5th, Monday, at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel in Tokyo.
