For the second year in a row, a biracial woman has won a national beauty pageant in Japan as Japanese-Indian Priyanka Yoshikawa took out the coveted title of Miss Japan 2016.
Yoshikawa, 22, said the award was an opportunity to make a difference.
"By joining Miss World Japan, it gives me the visibility and platform to realise my dream of changing the world," she said.
But Yoshikawa may have to work on promoting change at home first, as some reacted to her win with anger, claiming she was not 'truly' Japanese.
"It’s like we’re saying a pure Japanese face can’t be a winner,” said one user.
"No thanks," added another.
Born in Tokyo to an Indian father and a Japanese mother, Yoshikawa is what the Japanese call a 'hafu', derived from the English word for half.
The tension is reminiscent of last year's competition when Ariana Miyamoto caused controversy by becoming the first biracial winner of Miss Universe Japan.
Born of an African-American father and Japanese mother, Miyamoto said she struggled to be accepted.
"I was born and raised in Japan but, because of my skin, people think I'm a foreigner," Miyamoto said.
I was bullied a lot and even my friends didn't want to hold hands with me because they thought my colour would rub off on them."
Priyanka hopes to follow in Miyamoto's footsteps by tackling racial prejudice in Japan and encouraging diversity.
