PAGEANT Circle

Ai Yoshida was crowned Miss Japan 2023 in a national competition held last Thursday, September 28 at the Hotel Chinzanso in Tokyo. The 25-year-old public servant representing Saga bested 39 other contestants to win the national title. She succeeds last year's winner  Shiori Kojima of Kanagawa. Risa Hiroi of Yamaguchi placed second while Shiori Ohno of Kumamoto, Miyuki Hase of Hokkaido, and Yanase Alessa of Osaka were third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Alongside the new Miss Japan, Junya Ota of Kanagawa was proclaimed Mr. Japan 2023 while Ayumi Yoshimura of Kyoto clinched the title of Miss Japan Premium 2023. Their respective predecessors were  Kaito Iwami and Mari Uehara. The winners will now embark on a year-long adventure as titleholders and will be involved in official events and charity activities. "We aim to create opinion leaders who are not just beautiful, but also possess intelligence, sensibility, humanity, physicality, and self-confidence," the organizers

Kaito Iwami was named Mister Japan 2022 during the conclusion of the national competition that took place on Friday, September 16 at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo. The 28-year-old actor and fitness trainer representing a Japanese prefecture called Chiba will now prepare to represent Japan at the 14th Mister International competition in the Philippines this October. Completing the Top 5 finalists were Ryo Hattogo of Niigata, Okamoto Kotetsu of Okayama, Koji Sato of Fukuoka, and Takashi Akiyama of Hyogo. "I honestly feel that my efforts have paid off. Once again, I would like to thank everyone involved and those who have supported me," the new Mister Japan wrote in a statement on social media. "From now on, I would like to continue to work hard every day so that I can grow into an attractive human being as an actor," he added. The annual Mister Japan was founded in 2013 as the male version of Miss Japan. A total of 20 finalists were chosen to take part in this year's 10th