Miss Universe Japan

Miss Universe Japan Organization
ミス・ユニバース・ジャパン
Formation	1952; 72 years ago
Type	Beauty pageant
Headquarters	Tokyo
Location	Japan;
Membership	Miss Universe
Official language	Japanese
President	Hiroko Mima
Website	Official website

Miss Universe Japan (Japanese: ミス・ユニバース・ジャパン) is a national Beauty pageant in Japan to select an official candidate for the Miss Universe 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. 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 won the second Miss Universe crown for Japan in 2007. 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 (WCBA)
2010 Miss Universe Japan - Izumi Toda and Akihiro Yoshida (HDR Corporation)
2018 Miss Universe Japan - Hiroko Mima

International crowns

Two – Miss Universe winners:
- Riyo Mori (2007)
- Akiko Kojima (1959)

Gallery of winners

Akiko Kojima, Miss Universe 1959

Titleholders

: Declared as Winner
: Ended as runner-up or top 5/6 qualification
: Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists
: Ended as special awards winner

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, Akiko Kojima claimed the first crown for Japan.^[1] 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 Miss Universe. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent.

Year	Prefecture	Miss Universe Japan	Japanese Name	Placement at Miss Universe	Special Awards
Hiroko Mima directorship — a franchise holder to Miss Universe from 2018
2025	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
2024	Hyōgo	Kaya Chakrabortty	チャクラボルティ雅	Top 30
2023	Shizuoka	Rio Miyazaki^[2]	リオ宮崎	Unplaced
2022	Chiba	Marybelén Sakamoto^[3]	マリベレン坂本	Unplaced
2021	Tokyo	Juri Watanabe^[4]	渡邉珠理	Top 16
2020	Chiba	Aisha Harumi Tochigi	杤木愛シャ暖望	Unplaced
2019	Hyōgo	Ako Kamo	加茂あこ	Unplaced
2018	Mie	Yuumi Kato	加藤遊海	Unplaced
Izumi Toda and Akihiro Yoshida (HDR Corporation) directorship: Miss Japan Organization — a franchise holder to Miss Universe between 2010―2017
2017	Chiba	Momoko Abe	阿部桃子	Unplaced	Best National Costume
2016	Shiga	Sari Nakazawa	中沢沙理	Unplaced
2015	Nagasaki	Ariana Miyamoto	宮本エリアナ	Top 10
2014	Nagasaki	Keiko Tsuji	辻恵子	Unplaced
2013	Mie	Yukimi Matsuo	松尾幸実	Unplaced	Best National Costume (4th Runner-up)
2012	Miyagi	Ayako Hara	原綾子	Unplaced
2011	Tokyo	Maria Kamiyama	神山まりあ	Unplaced	Best National Costume (9th Runner-up)
2010	Ōita	Maiko Itai	板井麻衣子	Unplaced
Inès Ligron (WCBA) directorship — a franchise holder to Miss Universe between 1998―2009
2009	Tokyo	Emiri Miyasaka	宮坂絵美里	Unplaced
2008	Tokushima	Hiroko Mima	美馬寛子	Top 15
2007	Shizuoka	Riyo Mori	森理世	Miss Universe 2007
2006	Okinawa	Kurara Chibana	知花くらら	1st Runner-up	Best National Costume
2005	Aichi	Yukari Kuzuya	葛谷由香里	Unplaced
2004	Hiroshima	Eri Machimoto	町本絵里	Unplaced
2003	Kumamoto	Miyako Miyazaki	宮崎京	4th Runner-up
2002	Tokyo	Mina Chiba	千葉美苗	Unplaced
2001	Aomori	Misao Arauchi	荒内美沙緒	Unplaced
2000	Tokyo	Mayu Endo	遠藤真由	Unplaced
1999	Saitama	Satomi Ogawa	小川里美	Unplaced
1998	Tokyo	Nana Okumura	奥村ナナ	Unplaced
Yoshinaga (Japanese-American Press) directorship — a franchise holder to Miss Universe between 1952―1995
Did not compete between 1996—1997
1995	Saitama	Narumi Saeki	佐伯成美	Unplaced
1994	Kagawa	Chiaki Kawahito	川人千明	Unplaced
1993	Hyōgo	Yukiko Shiki	志岐幸子	Unplaced
1992	Aichi	Akiko Ando	安藤晃子	Unplaced
1991	Osaka	Atsuko Yamamoto	山本亜津子	Unplaced
1990	Ehime	Hiroko Miyoshi	三好浩子	Unplaced
1989	Hokkaido	Eri Tashiro	田代絵里	Unplaced
1988	Hyōgo	Mizuho Sakaguchi	坂口美津穂	3rd Runner-up
1987	Okayama	Hiroe Namba	難波央江	Unplaced
1986	Gifu	Hiroko Esaki	江崎普子	Unplaced
1985	Osaka	Hatsumi Furusawa	古沢初美	Unplaced
1984	Tokyo	Megumi Niiyama	新山恵	Unplaced
1983	Osaka	Yuko Yamaguchi	山口遊子	Unplaced
1982	Tokyo	Eri Okuwaki	奥脇絵里	Unplaced
1981	Kyoto	Mineko Orisaku	織作峰子	Unplaced
1980	Tokyo	Hisae Hiyama	檜山久恵	Unplaced
1979	Tokyo	Yurika Kuroda	黒田百合香	Unplaced	Miss Congeniality
1978	Osaka	Hisako Manda	萬田久子	Unplaced
1977	Tokyo	Kyoko Sato	佐藤恭子	Unplaced
1976	Osaka	Miyako Iwakuni	岩国美弥子	Unplaced
1975	Hokkaido	Sachiko Nakayama	中山幸子	Top 12
1974	Tokyo	Eriko Tsuboi	坪井江里子	Unplaced
1973	Ibaraki	Miyoko Sometani	染谷美代子	Top 12
1972	Tokyo	Harumi Maeda	前田晴美	Top 12
1971	Tokyo	Shigeko Taketomi	武富茂子	Top 12	Best Swimsuit
1970	Tokyo	Jun Shimada	島田純	3rd Runner-up	Best Swimsuit
1969	Aichi	Kikuyo Osuka	大須賀喜久代	4th Runner-up
1968	Tokyo	Yasuyo Iino	飯野矢住代	Unplaced	Miss Congeniality
1967	Osaka	Kayoko Fujikawa	藤川香代子	Unplaced
1966	Osaka	Atsumi Ikeno	池野温美	Unplaced
1965	Tokyo	Mari Katayama	片山まり	Unplaced
1964	Hyōgo	Chizuko Matsumoto	松本千都子	Unplaced
1963	Miyagi	Noriko Ando	安藤矩子	Top 15
1962	Kyoto	Kazuko Hirano	平野和子	Unplaced
1961	Tokyo	Akemi Toyama	遠山明美	Unplaced
1960	Fukuoka	Yayoi Furuno	古野弥生	Top 15
1959	Tokyo	Akiko Kojima	児島明子	Miss Universe 1959
1958	Fukuoka	Tomoko Moritake	森武知子	Top 15	Miss Congeniality
1957	Tokyo	Kyoko Otani	大谷享子	Top 15
1956	Fukushima	Yoshie Baba	馬場祥江	Unplaced
1955	Tokyo	Keiko Takahashi	高橋敬緯子	4th Runner-up
1954	Aichi	Mieko Kondo	近藤美恵子	Unplaced
1953	Tokyo	Kinuko Ito	伊東絹子	2nd Runner-up
1952	Osaka	Himeko Kojima	小島日女子	Unplaced

References

^ "Japanese Girl Beauty Queen". The Sydney Morning Herald. July 26, 1959. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
^ "20歳大学生、宮崎莉緒さんミスユニバース日本代表「私から出るエネルギーは誰にも負けない」". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 September 2023.
^ "グランプリに坂本さん輝く「2022 ミス・ユニバースジャパンファイナル」". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 August 2022.
^ Nguyễn, Ly (2021-09-22). "Người đẹp 25 tuổi đăng quang Hoa hậu Hoàn vũ Nhật Bản 2021". Zing News (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2021-09-22.

External links

Official website

[1] "Japanese Girl Beauty Queen". The Sydney Morning Herald. July 26, 1959. Retrieved 5 January 2011.

[2] "20歳大学生、宮崎莉緒さんミスユニバース日本代表「私から出るエネルギーは誰にも負けない」". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 September 2023.

[3] "グランプリに坂本さん輝く「2022 ミス・ユニバースジャパンファイナル」". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 August 2022.

[4] Nguyễn, Ly (2021-09-22). "Người đẹp 25 tuổi đăng quang Hoa hậu Hoàn vũ Nhật Bản 2021". Zing News (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2021-09-22.

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