Miss Japan gives up the crown after revealing her relationship with a married man – El Nacional

Infobae.- This year's Miss Japan winner, born in Ukraine, relinquished her title after a magazine published an article about her affair with a married man.

Carolina Shino was crowned Miss Japan on January 22, sparking a public debate over the age-old question of what it means to be Japanese in a country where homogeneity and conformity are still valued.

In a message posted to her Instagram on Monday, Chino said that after the article was published, she offered to give up her crown and her modeling agency in exchange for it. She says her offer was accepted.

Weekly Bunshun magazine reported last week that Shino was having an affair with a married doctor. At first, she seemed to confirm the relationship, but she said she didn't know he was married.

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He later said that his previous explanation was “incorrect” and that he was aware of his marital status and that he had a family. Cheno said he was in shock and fear from the report, and panicked, which is why he couldn't tell the truth, and he apologized.

“I'm so sorry for causing this huge problem and acting as if I betrayed everyone who supported me,” he said on Instagram.

Chino also apologized to the man's partner and family, as well as to other parties involved.

The Miss Japan pageant organizers' office said on Tuesday that Shino's resignation from the title had been accepted, adding that the place of the 2024 winner would remain vacant.

The organization also said it “takes responsibility” for the uproar and apologized to sponsors, judges and others involved in the “case.” She said she initially defended Shino, based on her initial explanation that the man she was involved with told her he was divorced and she had broken up with him when she found out otherwise.

The scandal reignited a wave of criticism of Chino on social media, but it also raised some questions about why she was the only one to be blamed for the affair, while the man who was involved with her did not make a single public comment.

In Japanese male-dominated culture, women are still expected to be good mothers and wives, and are publicly punished more often than men for extramarital affairs.

Last year, popular Japanese actress Ryoko Hirusu was suspended by her acting agency indefinitely over her alleged affair with a married celebrity chef.

Shino has lived in Japan since arriving in the country at the age of five. She speaks fluent Japanese and became a naturalized citizen in 2022. She has worked as a model and said she has a strong sense of Japanese identity like everyone else, despite her Caucasian appearance.