Miss Universe Japan () is a national

Beauty pageant 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 sol ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to select an official candidate for the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

pageant. Since 2018, the national director of Miss Universe Japan is Hiroko Mima.

History

The Miss Japan pageant was founded in 1952, and has gone through several sponsor changes. Between 1952 and 1995 it was sponsored and run by

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...

. The sponsorship ended in 1995 and after a 2-year hiatus, French businesswoman Ines Ligron seized the business opportunity and established a company to operate the pageant as Miss Universe Japan. Until 2007, the organisation managed to produce one winner, two top 5 runners-up and one top 15 semifinalist at the Miss Universe pageant. Ligron was catapulted to the international spotlight when

Riyo Mori (born December 24, 1986) is a Japanese actress, dancer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City. Personal life An only child, Riyo Mori began dancing at the age of 4. She studied at Quinte Ballet School and gra ...

won the second Miss Universe crown for Japan in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In 2009, Ligron left the organisation which resulted in a different team now leading the organisation.

National directors

*1952 Miss Japan - Yoshinaga (Japanese-American Press) *1998 Miss Universe Japan -

Inès Ligron Inès Ligron is a French fashion and beauty expert, best known for her work with fashion houses, beauty firms, advertising agencies, and magazine editors. Ligron also owns a beauty academy in Japan called ''WCBA by Ines Ligron''. Ines is the face ...

(WCBA) *2010 Miss Universe Japan - Izumi Toda and Akihiro Yoshida (HDR Corporation) *2018 Miss Universe Japan - Hiroko Mima

International crowns

* Two –

winners: **

(

) **

Akiko Kojima is a Japanese model and beauty queen. She was crowned Miss Universe 1959, making her the first Japanese and Asian woman to win the title. Biography Kojima was a 22-year-old model from Tokyo, Japan, when she won over four other finalists from ...

(

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

)

Gallery of winners

File:Akiko Kojima 1959.jpg,

Titleholders

::''The Miss Japan pageant existed from 1952 to 1995. During that period, the pageant managed to produce a winner and three top 5 finalists at the Miss Universe pageant. In 1959,

claimed the first crown for Japan. After a top 12 semifinalist placement in 1975, Japan managed to place only one more time prior to 1995, when Mizuho Sakaguchi took fourth place in 1988. In 1998, the Miss Universe Japan pageant acquired the Miss Universe license. The winner of Miss Universe Japan (MUJ) represents her country at

. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent.''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miss Universe Japan

Beauty pageants in Japan Recurring events established in 1998 1998 establishments in Japan Japanese awards