Karolina Shiino, the Ukraine-born winner of last month’s Miss Japan contest, has relinquished her title, the contest organizer said Monday, following a magazine report that she was having an affair with a married man.
It is the first time a Miss Japan winner has relinquished their title. The organizer said the post will be vacant for the year.
Shukan Bunshun reported on Wednesday that Shiino, 26, was dating a doctor who is married. However, the Miss Japan organizer rebutted the claim on Thursday, saying that he had claimed he was single and that she was unaware that he was married.
“Miss Japan Association believes there was nothing wrong with Karolina Shiino,” it said on its website.
But the association said on Monday that it had come to light that she had dated him in the knowledge that he was married, and that she had apologized for lying about it. The association accepted Shiino’s offer to step down as Miss Japan.
Shiino, who was born to Ukrainian parents, moved to Japan at the age of 5 after her parents divorced and her mother married a Japanese man, whose surname she now bears. She revealed on her Instagram in September that she had become a naturalized citizen.
Shiino was crowned Miss Japan on Jan. 22, rekindling a debate about what it means to be Japanese. During the ceremony, she tearfully said that she felt grateful for finally being accepted as Japanese.
Staff writer Mai Yoshikawa contributed to the report/
