A 24-year Japanese Ghanaian, Aisha Harumi Tochigi, has been crowned as the winner of Miss Universe Japan 2020 in keenly contested biracial pageant.
Aisha Harumi Tochigi, who hails from Chiba Prefecture won the coveted spot ahead of Japanese-Nigerian Raimu Kaminashi and Japanese-Filipino Yuki Sonoda who came in the first and second runner-up spots respectively.
Third runner-up Kilala Watanabe was the only one in the Top 5 who isn’t biracial, with Kiwi-Japanese Marina Little landing the fourth runner-up spot, as Global Asia News pointed out.
According to nextshark.com, Tochigi competed in last year’s Miss Universe Japan as well, finishing in the Top 5 but lost to last year’s winner, Ako Kamo.
“I’d like to spread that nobody should be judged by their color (or)…where they come from because this year, there was so much discrimination,” she was quoted as saying.
She added that discrimination is not just about race but also about age, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’d like to tell people that we shouldn’t judge people by their appearance but understand them, understand each other. It is the key to end discrimination. I’d like to spread that,” she added.
