The is a

beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

and audition contest name that has been held every year since 1987 in

Oscar Promotion is a Japanese talent agency headquartered in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It was founded in 1970 and manages talents in a variety of fields including modelling and acting. The company has a large roster of talents, making it one of the largest talent a ...

, and is the sister pageant of the ''Japan Beautiful Girl Contest''. When a

bishōjo In Japanese popular culture, a , also romanized as ''bishojo'' or ''bishoujo'', is a cute girl character. characters appear ubiquitously in media including manga, anime, and computerized games (especially in the ''bishojo'' game genre), and al ...

wins the Japanese Girl pageant, the first runner-up becomes Japan Bishojo Contest. Many of the winners have careers related to popular culture.

Miki Fujitani is a Japanese actress and former Idol Singer. In addition to her many live-action film and television roles, she had a prominent voice role as Kamiya Kaoru in the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' anime series, and as Chun-Li in '' Street Fighter II The M ...

, the 1987 winner, is also a

voice actress Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

; she is best known as the voice of Kaoru Kamiya in ''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

''. Aiko Sato, the 1992 winner, is an actress known as Kotoko Aihara in the 1996 drama version of

Itazura na Kiss is a Japanese ''shōjo manga, shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Kaoru Tada. ''Itazura na Kiss'' was first serialized and published in 1990 by Shueisha through ''Bessatsu Margaret'' magazine. It became successful very quick ...

. Azusa Yamamoto, the 1997 contestant and favorite to win, is an actress; she is well known as Furabijō in ''

Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger is a Japanese Tokusatsu television show and Toei's twenty-sixth production of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries. After Toei filed the trademark for the series on November 22, 2001, it aired from February 17, 2002, to February 9, 2003, replacing ...

''. Moeko Matsushita, another 1997 contestant and winner of best multimedia, is an actress and singer. Her most famous role as an actress is Hina Kusaka in '' Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon''.

Aya Ueto is a Japanese actress, singer and television personality. In 1997, Ueto participated in the seventh Japan Bishōjo Contest, where she won the special jury prize. Soon thereafter, Ueto joined the talent agency Oscar Promotion and began taking s ...

, another 1997 contestant and winner of the Judges' Special Choice Prize, is an actress; her best roles are as "

Azumi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yū Koyama. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Big Comic Superior'' from 1994 to 2008, with its chapters collected in 48 volumes. A sequel series with the same title ...

" in ''

'' and '' Azumi 2: Death or Love'' and as "Yoko Misaki" in ''

Attention Please is a manga by Chieko Hosokawa about the training of flight attendants for Japan Airlines originally serialized in ''Shōjo Friend'' from Kodansha beginning in 1970. Tokyo Broadcasting System adapted a TV drama from the manga in 1970. Thirt ...

''.

All Time Winners

;First (1987) :Grand Prix:

:Special Award: Maiko Yoshida :Music Division: Kyoko Yamamoto :Actor Division: Hitomi Maeda :Model Division: Hiromi Oda ;Second (1988) :Grand Prix:

Naomi Hosokawa Naomi Hosokawa (細川直美 ''Hosokawa Naomi''; real name: Chiho Katsurayama (葛山知保 ''Katsurayama Chiho''; born 18 June 1974 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese actress and singer. Filmography Films *''Shigure no Ki ...

:Actor Division: Noriko Tanaka :Music Division: Kiwako Yoshiwara ( Tomomi Harada, Hikaru Kusaka) :Model Division: Kaoru Igarashi :Maintainer: Yuko Anai, Mikiyo Ono, Erika Haneda ;Third (1989) :Grand Prix: Mitsuyo Obara :Special Award: Naomi Furukawa :Music Division: Juri Toyoda :Actor Division: Tomomi Hoshino :Model Division: Kaori Takeuchi :Maintainer: Mikako Mootoyama, Junko Muraki ;Fourth (1990) :Grand Prix: Akane Oda :Music Division: Akari Sakamoto :Actor Division: Yoko Matsura :Model Division: Asami Ishikawa :Maintainer: Kazumi Murata ;Fifth (1991) :Grand Prix: Masami Imamura :Music Division: Megumi Sato :Actor Division: Junko Kurokawa :Model Division: Kayoko Yamamoto :Maintainer: Maria Saito (

Nihon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

announcer) ;Sixth (1992) :Grand Prix: Aiko Sato :Special Award:

Ryoko Yonekura is a Japanese actress and former fashion model best known for her role in the Japanese medical drama '' Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon''. She also performs the voice of Black Widow in the Japanese-language releases of the ''Avengers'' film ser ...

:Music Division: Chizuru Tanaka :Actor Division: Sarina Suzuki :Model Division: Ai Tani :Maintainer:

Misato Tanaka is a Japanese actress. Biography Tanaka started appearing on stage as a child. She won an award at Toho's Cinderella contest in 1996 and landed the starring role in the NHK Asadora ''Aguri ''in 1997, which significantly launched her career. She ...

:Preference:

Kaori Mochida is the lead singer of Japanese pop group Every Little Thing. Biography Mochida began her career as a child actress, appearing in magazines and TV commercials. She then became a member of the second generation of idol group The Kuro Buta All ...

;Seventh (1997) :Grand Prix: Atsuko Sudou :Multimedia: Moeco Matsushita :Actor Division: Manami Hashimoto :Music Division: Mami Nejiki :Special:

and Shinobu Ikehata :Maintainer: Mai Fujiya :Preference: Azusa Yamamoto ;Eighth (2002) :Grand Prix*Multi Media (same): Asuka Shibuya :Grand Prix: Mizuho Sakata :Special Award: Ayaka Mita ( Ayaka Akai) :Music Division: Yurina Kina :Actor Division: Saya Yamakawa :Model Division: Eri Sakai ;Ninth (2003) :Grand Prix*Multi Media (same):

Mayuko Kawakita is a Japanese-American actress and model, known for her role as Rena on '' Fashion Story: Model'', Nippon Television variety show ''Hirunandesu!'', and ''Sekai no Hatemade Itte Q!''. She is the 2003 winner of the Japan Bishōjo Contest which is ...

:Special Award: Reina Hoshikawa ( Reina Minagawa - TBS announcer) :Music Division:

Yuka Honda is a Japanese-American musician who resides in New York City. She is a multi-instrumentalist (mainly piano, synthesizer, sampler and other keyboards), composer, record producer, and co-founder of the band Cibo Matto. Throughout her career, she ...

:Actor Division: Akemi Kimura :Model Division: Arisa Urahama :Gravure: Mikie Hara ;Tenth (2004) :Grand Prix:

Kurumi Yamauchi is the Japanese word for walnut. It is also a given name in Japan, primarily for women (though occasionally for men, such as novelist Kurumi Inui). It may refer to: People Actors *, female child actress *, female voice actress *, female actress, ...

:Special Award: Nina Sakai and Natsuki Saitō :Music Division: Aoi Yamazoe :Actor Division: Saki Fukuda :Model Division: Kana Sugiura :Multi Media: Haruna Yahagi :Gravure:

Ai Takabe is a Japanese former actress and voice actress. She is best known for starring as Fumiyo Nabekura in television series '' Guren Onna'' and voicing Agiri Goshiki in anime television series '' Kill Me Baby''. Career Ai Takabe won the Gravure Awa ...

:Variety: Kanako Morikawa ;Eleventh (2006) :Grand Prix: Tantan Hayashi :Special Award:

Shioli Kutsuna is a Japanese actress, known for her role as Ran Mori in ''Shinichi Kudo's Written Challenge!'', Minami Maho in ''Beck'' (2010), Haru/Harumi in '' 125 Years Memory'' (2015), and Yukio in '' Deadpool 2'' (2018) and '' Deadpool & Wolverine'' ( ...

and Rikako Tanaka :Music Division: Not available :Actor Division: Karen Miyazaki :Model Division:

Emi Takei is a Japanese actress and model. Biography Takei was born in Nagoya. Aspiring to become a model, she declared to her parents on her entry to junior high school that she would become a model within three years. In 2006, she entered the 11th Japa ...

:Multi Media:

:Gravure: Not available ;Twelfth (2009) :Grand Prix*Model Division:

Ayano Kudo is a Japanese actress and tarento. In 2009 at the age of 12, she won the 12th National Beauty Pageant (Japan Bishojo Contest). She played the lead role in the movie version of '' Thriller Restaurant'' (Gekijo-ban: Kaidan Resutoran) (2010) as Haru ...

:Special Award: Saeka Konishi, Ria Tamaki, Kotomi Onaka :Music Division: Risako Togano :Actor Division: Mizuki Satō :Multi Media: Mari Tamashiro :Gravure: Not available ;Thirteenth (2012) :Grand Prix :

Miyu Yoshimoto is a Japanese actress, idol, and tarento. She is the winner of the 13th Japan Bishōjo Contest in 2012, and the leader of the Japanese idol group X21. Biography Early life Yoshimoto was born on December 28, 1996, in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka P ...

and Nanaka Ozawa :Special Award: Manami Igashira and

Ichika Osaki is a Japanese actress who is represented by Oscar Promotion. She is best known as Asuna/Ryusoul Pink in the 43rd Super Sentai series ''Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger''. Biography and career Ichika Osaki was born in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan on De ...

:Music Division: Mai Suenaga :Actor Division: Hasumi Shiratori and Koharu Yamaki :Model Division: Ayano Wakayama :Multi Media: Honoka Kaminaguchi :Gravure: Sakura Komoriya ;Fourteenth (2014) :Grand Prix :

Hikaru Takahashi is a Japanese actress and model, currently affiliated to Oscar Promotion. Career Takahashi rose to fame after participating in the 14th ''Japan Bishōjo Contest'' in 2014, in which she won the Grand Prix among 80,131 applicants, 1,428 who passed ...

:Special Award: Moe Fujie and Yūka Takamura :Music Division: Natsumi Hanaoka :Actor Division: Hikaru Kadogaki and

Yurina Kawaguchi ''Girls Planet 999'' () is a 2021 South Korean reality competition show created by Mnet. It premiered on August 6, 2021, and was originally broadcast every Friday at 8:20 PM KST for the first eleven episodes until its finale on October 22, wh ...

:Model Division: Rubiner Maya and Risa Kikukawa :Multi Media: Mika Iijima :Gravure: Shiori Inuzuka ; Fifteenth (2017) :Grand Prix: Ayaka Imoto :Special Award: Shiori Tamada, Karuoko Ishii :Multimedia Award: Nanakai Takeuchimi :Gravure: Ruri Kinoshita :Music Division: Sakura Fujita, Kaoru Megumi :Actor Division: Ayaka Itami :Model Division: Momoka Taniguchi :Finalist: Tamao Yamamoto, Marie Morimoto

References

External links

The 14th Japan Bishojo Contest on Oscar Promotion

{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan Bishojo Contest Recurring events established in 1987 Japanese popular culture Beauty pageants in Japan Annual events in Japan 1987 establishments in Japan