Keiko Tsuji announced as Miss Universe Japan 2014 winner

The winner of the coveted Miss Universe Japan 2014 title has been announced as Keiko Tsuji, a twenty-year-old student from Okinawa and representing Nagasaki Prefecture. She will next represent Japan at the Miss Universe beauty contest.

Tsuji was chosen from a shortlist of around 40 after roughly 5,000 candidates applied from all over Japan.

These being enlightened times, there was also a male version, with Tohru Higa, another Okinawan, announced as the winner.

Such beauty contests have been marred in Japan by scandal of late. Ikumi Yoshimatsu, the 2012 winner of Miss International, went public with the stalking and harassment she received from the movers and shakers of Japan’s entertainment agencies to work strictly within their defined commercial system.

Let’s hope Ms. Tsuji isn’t subjected to similar treatment and can begin her modeling career in a positive way.