miss universe

Japan: Then & Now

Hi there... Matthew has helped me out yet again, as I am busy working on a blog that is taking me a long time to research and even longer to put together for you.

So... yesterday I took the time to create a blog to show the progress (or as it turns out, lack of progress) of Miss Universe Japan at the 2011 Miss Universe pageant. No photos, except of the winner, Miss Angola, but despite that, Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife had it' best (as of this writing) 24-hour period of blog reader activity.

There were over 4,300 hits! That's about half of my previous best month ever - which just so happened to have been August of 2011. As such, it's September 13, and this blog site has surpassed the previous high by about 1100 hits... with 17 days remaining.

As mentioned in THIS blog, I thought at first it was readers going to the site read up on the pageant... but instead, much to my chagrin, it was readers looking up the past 21 years of Miss Universe Japan. At first I was disappointed that not many people came to read up about the 2011 contest - but then, there are far better sites set up to provide the reader with better coverage on the pageant.

I appreciate the fact that so many of you have come to this blog site to look at the photos of the past 21 years of Miss Universe Japan, or to visit the site showing the National Costumes of the past 10 Japanese representatives!

Thank-you.

As a treat, please check out this BBC News site that shows Japan in Before and After shots - or rather it shows Japan just after the 9.0 Magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011 and what it looks like as of September 11, 2011. In some places it still looks like a disaster zone, but through it all, you can still see how life in the afflicted areas is beginning to resemble a sense of normalcy. It's inspiring, and I hope you think so to.

Click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14846458

Click on the photo at the bottom. When it appears, view the photo, and then click on the button at the top right of the photo that says Now, and watch the transformation.

Cheers! And thanks again, Matthew!

Andrew Joseph

Video Miss Universe 2011 crowning moment

Miss Universe 2011:


Leila Lopes from Angola was newly crowned Miss Universe 2011 on September 12 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Leila Lopes was 25 year old and stand 1.79 m.

This Blogger Is Confused

Okay... I don't know what sucks more... the fact that I spent the time to do a write up on the Miss Universe pageant despite Miss Universe Japan getting blown out in the opening round, or the fact that I have had some some 500 hits on my blog since I posted the results at 11PM my time - it's now 11:50PM, September 12, 2011.

I was fascinated by how many people were coming to Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife to get their fill on my Miss Universe 2011 results. I kept telling my wife every minute how many visitors my site was getting as it just kept getting hit after freaking hit.

I was so proud of myself.

And then I did something stupid.

I examined what blog entries were getting hit. Apparently some 497 of the hits in the past 50 minutes are for the blog entry I wrote on the last 21 Miss Universe Japan contestants: HERE. It was written on July 31, 2011

Three readers actually checked out the blog I wrote on September 12, 2011 on the actual Miss Universe 2011  pageant. PAGEANT RESULTS.

I think I'm going to go puke.

I swear to whatever gods are listening, that I will never figure out how some blogs are popular, and some blogs are not. And I'm not even talking about this one - I just mean blogs in general. I don't understand blog readers. Man, I feel like an ass.

Andrew Joseph

There she is - Miss Universe 2011

Well, Japanese woman lovers... it wasn't Miss Japan. Miss Universe Japan did not make it out past the first round. And to be honest, while she looked great, she paled beside the women who did get through to the Top 16. This year's event was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and from what I could tell, they did a pretty nice job. On with the show...

The first round - everyone wore a similar dress - not a gown...

Here are the Top 16, not in the order of score, but in order revealed:

1. Miss France
2. Miss Kosovo
3. Miss Colombia
4. Miss China
5. Miss Angola
6. Miss Australia
7. Miss Puerto Rico
8. Miss Brazil
9. Miss Netherlands
10. Miss USA
11. Miss Ukraine
12. Miss Panama
13. Miss Costa Rica
14. Miss Portugal (voted into the next round by the fans)
15. Miss Philippines
16. Miss Venezuela

My only comment about this was that the cameramen seemed to focus in on the actual woman chosen BEFORE she was actually announced! What the heck is with that?! That's just wrong!

At this time, the best National Costume award was announced:
Best National Costume: Miss Panama.
To me, this award is actually less about the pageant contestant, and more about the fashion designer - still Miss Panama was a great choice.

Voted on by the contestants: 

• Miss Congeniality: Miss Montenegro
• Miss Photogenic: Miss Sweden

Next was the Swimsuit competition, as revealed to the audience, not by score - to choose the the Top 10. The winners are:

1. Miss Australia
2. Miss Costa Rica
3. Miss France
4. Miss Ukraine
5. Miss Portugal
6. Miss Panama
7. Miss Philippines
8. Miss Angola
9. Miss China
10. Miss Brazil

Next, these Top 10 faced down in the Evening Gown competition. The Top 5 are:

1. Miss Ukraine
2. Miss Philippines
3. Miss China
4. Miss Brazil
5. Miss Angola

Right now I would like to state that aside from Miss Ukraine, I actually picked these four women to get this far. I also had Miss France in my top 5. 

The Top 5 then were asked a somewhat poignant question by a judge - picking the judge's name from a fishbowl. Each woman was asked a different inane question, and I'm sorry, but I won't repeat those questions here. Barf. Still, the women did a great job, but all answered in their own language aided by a translator. Let's hope the translators didn't screw up their answers.

And the winners are, in reverse order:

Fourth Runner Up: Miss China

Third Runner Up: Miss Philippines

Second Runner-Up: Miss Brazil

First Runner-Up: Miss Ukraine

And the winner is: Miss Angola - she is Miss Universe 2011, and guys - she is one of the most gorgeous women I have ever - EVER seen. Here's a photo of this stunning beauty:

Miss Universe 2011 - Miss Angola

By Andrew Joseph

Miss Universe Japan National Costumes

Because I care, here's a photo gallery of Miss Universe Japan from 2002 - 2011 in their national costumes.

2011
Maria Kamiyama

2010
Maiko Itai

2009
Emiri Miyasaka

2008
Hiroko Mima

2007
Riyo Mori

Was Miss Universe 2007.

2006
Kurara Chibana

Won best National Costume at 2006 Miss Universe Pageant, and was 1st Runner-up Miss Universe.


2005
Yukari Kazuya

2004
Eri Machimoto

2003
Miyako Miyazaki

2002
Mina Chiba

And that's all for now until the actual Miss Universe 2011 pageant declares a winner.


Enjoy!


Andrew Joseph

No Love For Japanese Teenaged Girl Prostitutes

I'm just taking a breather today... for a little bit, anyway... I usually publish at 12:01AM my time (EST in Toronto), but it may be another 13 hours before I actually post something a tad more interesting than this particular blog. Has anyone checked out the last one I did on the movie- Battle Royale? It's a blood and gore movie, but with an interesting plot. Very watchable. It's Japanese, with English subtitles... though I am sure you can find a downloadable torrent in the language of your choice. 

Anyhow... I just wanted to express my shock and awe that my blog on Japanese teenaged girl prostitutes has dropped out of the Top 5 of hits in the Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife blog!

I mean, really??!! How can readers not want to read up on teenaged girls selling themselves?!

How can men's soccer suddenly be in the #5 spot?! I'm a man. I love soccer! But who doesn't also love teenaged girl prostitutes?! I do! I mean... to read about. Shocking. Tsk-tsk!

My readers boggle my mind, sometimes. Sometimes in a good way, and other times in a baffling way.

Today, September 12 - it's the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant.

I'll be sure to bring along my viewing analysis of Miss Universe Japan 2011 at the pageant... but, and I hope I am completely wrong, I don't think she has much of a chance this year. Sorry, Maria. I still think you are hot, though. I am just not that impressed with your national costume... and that's the first thing the judges see in the contest, I think.

But what about teenaged girl prostitutes??!!  I even wrote a second blog enabling you horny visitors a way to translate their coded text messages so you know  where, when, how much, etcetera!

Oh well... soccer is the most beloved sport in the world. I played for years and coached women's soccer for eight more... but as an ex-player - and a pretty damn good one, in my day - there's nothing like playing the actual sport. I do get a bit bored watching it, because I know in most instances that I could have done what these professionals are doing...

Unlike the Japanese teenaged girl professionals. I would have liked to have been a male prostitute and charged by the inch, but I didn't want to starve. Just kidding. I have a great, big...

... appetite.

And so do you, dear readers... but apparently for soccer and Miss Universe. Oh well... Miss Universe I can understand... Hey... you know I even wrote about Miss Universe and Soccer together! C'mon! It's the best of both worlds! Maybe if they were hooking, it might be more interesting to me as a blogger...

Ha!

Cheers to all my loyal readers and to all of you who happen to accidentally click onto the blog while surfing the Internet for... whatever it is you are looking for - thanks for helping making September the best month yet - at least it looks like it's going to be that way by far!

Cordially,
Andrew Joseph

2011 Miss Universe Japan

Photo taken on Sept. 5 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This is the story of the current Miss Universe Japan 2011 Kamiyama Maria (surname first). Born on February 17, 1987 and from Osaka, Japan, the beautiful woman is 1.68 meters (5'-6") tall.

I'm having a bugger of a time finding a lot of data on Maria.

Here's what I have found:

As far as stories go - she's not what we in the business call juicy. No scandals, no skeletons... just a warm, intelligent and beautiful person with a gaijin (foreigner) first name representing Japan.

So... what's with the name Maria? Let's see if we can get her to open up a bit. 

She was crowned Miss Universe Japan 2011 on June 17, 2011 at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan. and is all set to compete in the 2011 Miss Universe pageant on September 12, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Maria was born in Tokyo and is a graduate of Seikei University studying English. She spent two years in Hawaii after graduation and worked at American Eagle Outfitters there.

“It was a great time,” she says. “I remember going shopping at Walmart just in a bikini and flip flops. It felt natural, but when I came back to Tokyo, I thought I can’t do that anymore.”

Until the Miss Universe Japan pageant, Maria was a salesperson at a Ginza-area clothing store in Tokyo.

So far... she doesn't appear overly ambitious.

Then, perhaps after being told for the 1000th time that she was gorgeous, she thought about entering the Miss Universe Japan pageant.

“I always thought that beauty contestants lived in another world,” notes Maria, “but I also thought that being in one would give me the chance to make a difference in my life and help others. I didn’t tell anyone, not even my family, when I applied because I was a bit embarrassed. I was still in Hawaii when the Tokyo audition was held, so I had to go to the Osaka one when I returned to Japan. I asked my sister to come with me and then I told her. After a second audition, my parents found out and said, ‘No, that is not you.’”

But, while they didn't really think she had it in her, her parents supported her decision and followed her to the Miss Japan contest in Tokyo. When she won, there was a loud scream.

“That was my mother. She cried and went crazy,” explains Maria.

Maria says she is fully aware that Japanese women have a stereotypical image worldwide... one where they are afraid to express their true feelings and opinions in a male-dominated society. She wanted to change that.

"I think I am a fairly opinionated person, so I hope I can give a good impression.”

She also knows that the March 11 disaster will be a topic of conversation whenever she goes abroad. “I have been to Tohoku a couple of times to do volunteer work. We played with children in Miyagi and Fukushima and Sendai. The first time I was really sad because everything was a mess. But when I met the children, they were so genki (energetic) and that lifted my spirits. I want to tell everyone: ‘Thank you for helping us.’ Japanese have a resilient spirit and we will recover.”

For Maria Kamiyama, the children are everything, and is interested in their health issues, especially vaccinations. “I know there are a lot of children suffering overseas, too, and I want to make sure that people in Japan are aware of that.”

While Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife was unable to get the scoop on her name - and yes, she is 100% Japanese and isn't the author's love-child, despite his protestations to the contrary... but Maria is normal... if not a tad boring despite her good looks. She's not stupid, though. Just kind of ordinary... maybe even like the girl next door if you were lucky enough to live next door to a Miss Universe contestant, of course.

Says Maria: "Well, I don’t like heights. Ghosts scare me. I cried when I saw Sean Penn’s film ‘Into the Wild.’ If I could have dinner with any movie star, it would be Angelina Jolie. I like surfing, hip-hop dancing, the music of Alicia Keys and Jack Johnson, and cooking. Please try my salmon with sautéed onions.”

She also likes surfing, dancing and singing. 

And despite her great figure--she says that while in training 80% of her food is healthy and the remainder is whatever food she wants--she loves sweets and: "if you really want to make me happy, just give me a cheesecake and a fork and I’ll eat the whole lot. Well, maybe not until after the final.”

To the left is an official head shot of Maria Kamiyama taken at the 2011 Miss Universe pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  


Files compiled by Andrew Joseph

2006 Miss Universe Japan

Let's look at Miss Universe Japan 2006, Chibana Kurara (surname first 知花 くらら), who was born on March 27, 1982 in Naha-shi (City of Naha), in Okinawa-ken (Okinanwa Prefecture) - the tiny little chain of islands in Japan's south.

Chibana, a Japanese model (d'uh) was the 1st runner-up the event - the highest placement of  Japanese contestant since Kojima Akiko won the title in 1959. But it should have been better, if not for a snafu (situation normal, all effed up).

She stands a statuesque 1.73 meters tall (5'-8"), has black hair (sometimes dyed brown), and dark brown eyes. Her measurements are 90-60-90 centimeters (35-1/2 - 23-1/2 - 35-1/2 inches). Yowza.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Japan's Sophia University in Tokyo in 2006, and speaks four languages: English, Spanish, French and Japanese.

She currently works as a roving reporter for a Japanese fashion magazine interview and photographing people.

All perfect, considering during the Miss Universe competition, Chibana won the best national costume award for her samurai outfit designed by artist Miyagawa Yuichi and fashion designer Ogata Yoshiyuki (surname first).

2006 National Costume winner - Samurai

As mentioned, she was the crowd favourite, was gorgeous, and had won the best costume award... so why did she end up as 1st-runner-up in second place? No one could really believe that the then 24-year-old could lose to 18-year-old Zuleyka Mendoza of Puerto Rico... but it happened.

Many people believe that Chibana was robbed of the title when her Japanese/English interpreter missed a key fact during the final interview portion of the 2006 contest.

The Question: If you had the opportunity to change the history of humanity, what would you change and why? 

The Answer: If exploitation and violence could be eliminated, the world would be better.

What She Really Said:  If exploitation and violence against women could be eliminated, the world would be better.

It is surmised that the Interpreter accidentally leaving out the feminist angle of the answer cost Chibana the crown. 

Maybe. However... why, if this gorgeous woman spoke four languages - including English - did she not answer in English? 


Anyhow... nowadays Chibana is happy and successful. She's still gorgeous, and just know that I would leave your wife for her.

I wish I was a couch instead of a couch potato.

Files compiled by Andrew Joseph

Jimbo's Blog

Hey! Here's a cool blog entry from my buddy Jimbo and his blog: Jimbo's Japan.

This entry presented for you here has some cool art by a Japanese artist named Otomo Shohei. Dude... you ever want to create a comic book with me - I'll write it!

Here's Jimbo's blog:  ART

The art is fantastic! But you know what I find really bizarre about it? He didn't draw any women. I'm not judging, of course, but Otomo-san, I'd like to see you draw Mori Riyo for me. She was Miss Universe 2007 and was the last Japanese woman, and second ever, to win the global crown.

Cheers
Andrew Joseph

Schoolgirl Prostitutes of Japan

A couple of months back I wrote a blog about what to me was the shocking revelation of Japanese school girls selling themselves via prostitution. It was college girls, high school girls and junior high school girls. You can re-read that blog HERE. 

Anyhow... I'm going to present to you a news story from back in 2008, which was shocking to me when I read it last night. You'll see why I was completely aghast in a moment.

So... back in 2008, several junior and senior high school girls in Tokyo and Saitama-shi (Saitama City) Saitama-ken (Saitama Prefecture) were arrested for running a prostitution ring.

According to the police, it was a well-run operation - hardly the type of thing you would expect from teenagers.

All solicitations were done via telephone - text messages to be exact.

The girls would send out ads via SMS texts (Short Message Service) to prospective customers.

Here's is what the text message would look like: IkebLURV1700Yukichi2JC1

How the hell do you decode that? Well, apparently those in the know, know.

But here's what it means:

Ikeb = Ikebukuro - and example of where the girl is located;
LURV = I will have sex with you;
1700 = Time: 5PM - it's standard Military time;
Yukichi2 = Yukichi Fukuzawa, that is the face of the man on the Y10,000 bill. So essentially it means Y10,000  x 2  or the services cost Y20,000 - which let's just say it's about $200 US/Cdn.
JC = Joshi Chugakusei - it's the first letter of each word that is important. JC  means Junior High School girl; JS is an Elementary School Girl; and JK is a High School Girl;
1 = Grade 1. In Japan, 1st year of junior high = 7th grade; 2 = second year or Grade 8; 3 = third year or Grade 9. (High School, 1, 2 and 3 imply Grades 10, 11 and 12... and I don't even want to know how low the numbers are for an Elementary School girl.

I'm just sickened that there are Elementary School Girls who are selling themselves. Plus even further ill that there are men preying on these kids for sex.

It's a pretty intense code, and I have no idea how anyone even gets a text message from any of these girls, suffice to say that it worked for a fair bit of time.
 
Files compiled by Andrew Joseph
The photo above is not of a schoolgirl prostitute - though it might as well be. It's supposed to be from some site decrying the school girl look (kawaii - cute) for Japanese women's fashion. Read my blog on Miss Universe 2007 HERE for more on this. She's a real woman. 

2007 Miss Universe Japan

This is the story of Mori Riyo (surname first), Japan’s most recent—and second-ever—Miss Universe, crowned on May 28, 2007. Plus... there’s a Canada connection!

She is quite possibly the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen (though I have read reports from some stuipid blogger who believe she is not necessarily beautiful in the convention sense... what the hell does that mean? Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder – if it weren’t maybe only 10% of the population would ever get laid and half of that married!)

Mori was born on December 24, 1986 in Aoi-ku, in Shizuoka-ken (Shizuko Prefecture beside Mt. Fuji) in Japan. She’s tall at 1.73 meters (5’-8”), slender (duh), great figure, though I was unable to determine what exactly it is. Twenty years ago, I could probably have told you exactly what her measurements are.

As an aside... just so you know... Matthew and myself – we have dated women with similar great looks! And you can, too. Just go to Japan!

She has black hair and brown eyes – but some people say her beauty isn’t typical of the Japanese – I’ll explain why they say that in a moment.

As an only child, she was raised in a loving home and began dancing ballet at the age of four. She studied ballet at the Quinte Ballet School of Canada located in Bellville, Ontario. My first girlfriend went to high school in Bellville (Bryndis Swan – she lived in Roslin).

Mori did spend her Grade 11 year at Mount Douglas Secondary School in Victoria British Columbia, Canada, but did graduate high school from Centennial Secondary School in Belleville.

I’m guessing her English was and is pretty damn good! Matthew – who knew that she was that close to us... though we were both long married by the time she turned 18 in 2004! Dammit!

The pageant was held in Mexico. She immediately won the crowd over by saying “Hola Mexico!”

At the Miss Universe pageant, Mori, after moving into the final 15, competed in the swimsuit competition (that’s her in the photo above). She achieved the highest score in the competition – and is still the highest such score in the pageant since 2002. Obviously, her score got her into the top 10 – the evening gown competition, in which she placed fourth, wearing a kimono-inspired black floral gown from the 2007 spring/summer collection from Gucci.

In the final round – the question period – she was asked to speak about the one lesson she learned as a child that still affects her life.

Mori replied that since childhood, she has been dancing and was thus constantly surrounded by students and teachers, and because of these interactions, she has learned to always be happy, patient and positive in her life. She also said that because of this, she wants to teach the next generation the same principles.

It was enough to help her win the crown... the 2^nd ever Japanese person, but also the 11^th Asian winner. She was also the third Japanese woman to place in the top five of the competition for the past decade (Miyazaki Miyako was 4^th runner-up in 2003, and Chibana Kurara was the 1^st runner-up in 2006).

That's no way to treat your successor!

During her crowning, the previous Miss Universe (from Puerto Rico)had to place the crown on Mori’s head, but didn’t do a good job of it as her last official duty, as the crown nearly hit the floor but was caught by Mori’s keen reflexes. Good thing, too... the official Mikimoto crown is made of diamonds and pearls and has a valuwe well over $250,000!

Despite her impressive good looks and talents (it’s not merely a beauty competition), you might think that all of Japan would be happy for her. But, proving once and for all that you can never make everybody happy, some Japanese were not proud of her non-Japanese ways.

The major complaint was/is that she is not kawaii (cute) enough. Seriously. If you want to look at cute girls, go hang-out at the local junior high school. This woman is beautiful because she looks like a woman!

As well, Mori was accused of having a cosmopolitan look – which is not apparently indicative of the Japanese standards of beauty. I can tell you from experience, that the girls from Tokyo did not look as cosmopolitan as the girls from Osaka!

I’m going to say that the Japanese who are saying this are nuts. However, all one has to do is take a look at Miss Japan 2008, who looks kawaii, and is definitely more Japanese rather than cosmopolitan. Hell... this is a Miss Universe competition – not merely a Miss Japan competition.

Here's the only photo I found of Mori Riyo in her National Costume.

Other knocks against Mori is that during the National Costume (for the first time ever, there was no winner of this competition) segment of the competition (the first round), she wore a geisha-inspired outfit– which annoyed some people, complaining that that was buying into the American/Western concepts of what Japan is all about. Point taken. But when it comes to an iconic image of a Japanese person, geisha, samurai, ninja, fat guy in a Godzilla suit – this is what people think. She couldn’t wear a samurai outfit, as the 2006 Miss Universe Japan did that to win the Best National Costume competition. You don’t want to be a copycat! As well... a ninja costume or big rubber lizard suit costume is probably not going to be very flattering for her awesome curves.

Regardless... the criticism gets worse. According to an entertainment reporter (I’ve been a real reporter for the Toronto Star newspaper... writing about entertainment - like blog writing – isn’t exactly high brow entertainment) from the Shukan Shinco magazine (never heard of it) that ‘loads of reporters’ were surprised by Mori-san’s win at the competition because “making up her eyes to emphasize her ‘oriental exoticism’ isn’t a look that really appeals to Japanese.”

So... looking Japanese doesn’t appeal to the Japanese who are pissed off that her costume was not Japanese enough despite it being an iconic Japanese image.

Right. Got it. It’s Japan’s concept of itself that has always confused me. It has rushed to embrace a lot of Westernisms... like our housing styles, clothing, music, and even draws its Japanese anime (cartoons) and manga (comic book) characters with typical non-Japanese eyes! The Japanese seem confused about their identity. Even though they (Japanese) like to tell the gaijin that everything is Japanese-this or Japanese-that (Japanese chopsticks, Japanese rice, Japanese archery, Japanese kimono) we realize it's because they are proud of their (Japanese) contribution to the global society, still the Japanese are not very happy with the way they look... which is funny, because us gaijin guys don’t seem to have a problem with the way the Japanese women look. Oh well... maybe you’ll be happy with yourselves one day.

And, by the way, I know I don''t have a problem with the way anyone on this stupid planet looks.

More crap. The magazine then says that though Mori was born in Japan to Japanese parents, she spent few of her teen aged years in Japan, as she was living in Canada. In Canada. And that she was clueless about Japanese etiquette and was so full of herself.

After her win at the Miss Universe competition, Mori-san returned to her hometown - no not Belleville, Canada, but rather Aoi-ku in Shizuoka, and apparently left a bad impression with the local media as she placed her hands akimbo (on her hips) and pointed her microphone at the reporters when they asked HER a question.

Apparently, both acts are considered impolite. Okay... maybe I can see the rudeness of her hands akimbo. Maybe. But turning the microphone towards the reporter asking her questions is just a way to ensure the rest of the people around her could hear his/her questions. That was a courtesy. Not rudeness. And if you think it’s being rude – why? It’s hardly some ancient Japanese rule of life. It’s a pretty damn recent rule – since the advent of microphones. She was just being smart and polite to the rest of the audience listening in on the question and answers.

One local reporter said: “That might be the way they do things in America, but a female Japanese performer would never act that way.”

Three things wrong with that statement. Number 1: the fact some reporter even made this statement; Number 2: Apparently a male Japanese performer can act that way, but a female cannot – sexist pig; Number 3 – America? She lived in Canada. This might be the way we do things in Canada. Why, if it’s offensive behaviour, point at the Americans? It was us Canadians that did this to her to causing Japan so much friggin’ anguish. How about some hate for Canada, rather than our poor American cousins?!

These yokels in the media also had the gall to say that just because Mori-san said she did not have a favourite Japanese performer, it meant that she was looking down on her own country.

Really? Just because she doesn’t have a favourite Japanese performer? Great. She isn’t 12-years-old. Also, maybe she likes many different Japanese performers and didn’t want to insult any Japanese performers... or maybe she really just doesn’t care for any performers at the moment.

Ask me who’s my favourite performer... I dare you. I don’t friggin’ have one. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian – like Mori-san.

Poor Mori – apparently the other Miss Universe contestants didn’t like her either. Miss Norway, Kirby Ann Basken (a half Filipino/Norweigian) told the Philippine Dairy Inquirer (I’m always leery of any magazine that uses the word Inquirer in its name) that only half the divas in the pageant had been happy for Mori-san after the win. Apparently Miss Brazil did not congratulate Mori-san after the win, according to Miss Norway.

Meow! Saucer of milk for table #2!

Catty or what?

Anyhow... because Mori-san dared to state in her online diary that she would ‘definitely win the crown because other favourites were losing steam’ – well, that was arrogance according to some... ego. That’s what Miss Norway said.

Let me just go on record here... my self-confidence can always been seen by others as ego.

In a bit of confusing opinion from Miss Norway, she says that Mori ‘could have done better’, even though ‘the way she presented herself during the pageant was outstanding’.

She won didn’t she? How could she have done better, especially if she presented herself in an outstanding manner.

This Miss Norway is an idiot.

Anyhow... at least Mori-san didn’t have to take all of the blame for daring to become 2007 Miss Universe. That blame fell onto Ines Ligron of France who has been training and running the Miss Uuniverse Japan competition since 1998.

I think the Japanese media hates her because she is not Japanese.

Just because she grooms her charges to be independent, confident, goal-oriented and glamorous rather than the traditional Japanese look of cute, shy, cute (I know I said it twice), humble, earnest and mild-mannered.

Well... welcome to the 21^st century Japan. The samurai are long gone.

Mori says that Ligron has changed her: “I learnt how to have confidence, poise and be myself.”

Wow – how horrible. That’s sarcasm, by the way.

Ligron, in an interview with the respected newspaper The Japan Times, said that the Japanese concept of kawaii (cute) and sekushii (sexy) is ‘long mistaken.’

“The kawaii concept is for 12-year-old girls,” she said.

Again... on record, I had no idea she had said that about 12-year-old girls when I made my comment of 12-year-old girls earlier in this blog.

“Real beauty for women comes from the inside. It’s a mental thing. It’s about sensuality and intelligence,” explains Ligron expressing her admiration for Mori’s transformation from a “chubby dancer” to Miss Universe.

Ligron continues: “Men might become upset that we killed the kawaii trend, but women are going to feel liberated. They can finally look like a woman and not like a 12-year-old girl.”

When I was in Japan, I hated seeing women dress like a 12-year-old. I didn’t want to screw a 12-year-old girl. I wanted a woman.

Riyo Mori - dancer and Miss Universe 2007 Japan. Simply awesome.

Here’s the last word from Mori-san herself regarding her career ambitions:

“To open my own dance school in Tokyo! My mother runs a successful dance school outside of Tokyo and we plan to expand my family’s love for the performing arts by opening an international dance school in Tokyo, the capital of Japan and a crossroads for many cultures. My plan is to hire teachers who speak a number of languages so that I can host students from around the world. Opening my own school will allow me to live and teach my passion for dancing while being an independent businesswoman.”

Files compiled by Andrew Joseph

Miss Universe 2011 playing Soccer at Pacaembu Stadium

Road to Miss Universe 2011:

>> Miss Universe 2011 pageant

A group of Miss Universe 2011 contestants were invited to visit the Pacaembu Stadium and played a soccer match there under the coaching of Brazilian soccer player Cafu. The beauties were divided in two teams: The Golden Girls and The Glamazons. The final score: The Golden Girls won by 3-0, with Miss Costa Rica scoring twice, and Miss Brazil scoring once.

Source: The Beauties of World