Ariana Miyamoto (C) from Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, makes a speech in Tokyo on March 12 after being chosen to represent the country at this year's Miss Universe contest.

The newly crowned Miss Universe Japan — who was born and raised in Nagasaki and speaks fluent Japanese — isn’t Japanese enough, some critics say. Ariana Miyamoto has had to defend… ...

Miss Universe Japan Ariana Miyamoto poses during an exclusive interview with AFP in Tokyo on May 7, 2015. TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images. Tokyo -- Japan is thought of as a racially homogeneous nation.

Biracial Miss Universe Japan brings racial issues to spotlight 03:54. Walking through the Shibuya section of Tokyo, Ariana Miyamoto certainly turns heads -- and she wants to use that attention to ...

Nishikura told NBC that Miyamoto’s selection as Miss Universe Japan “is a huge step forward in expanding the definition of what it means to be Japanese.

"The face of Miss Universe Japan is obviously [that of] a foreigner!" griped another. "I wasn't surprised by it," Miyamoto says to Newsweek of her reaction. "I was expecting it, actually." ...

Ariana Miyamoto, a native of Nagasaki who has a Japanese mother and an African American father, also faced fierce criticism when she was chosen to represent Japan in the Miss Universe pageant in 2015.

Ariana Miyamoto, a native of Nagasaki who has a Japanese mother and an African American father, also faced fierce criticism when she was chosen to represent Japan in the Miss Universe pageant in 2015.

The women competing in the 71st annual Miss Universe pageant hail from places like Ukraine, Japan, Russia, and the USA.

Before Carolina Shiino, biracial model Ariana Miyamoto represented Japan in Miss Universe. Shiino is only the latest to face the repercussions of questions over what makes someone Japanese.

Ariana Miyamoto, a native of Nagasaki who has a Japanese mother and an African American father, also faced fierce criticism when she was chosen to represent Japan in the Miss Universe pageant in 2015.