Karolina Shiino, the Ukraine-born winner of last month’s Miss Japan contest, has relinquished her title, the contest organizer said Monday, following a magazine report that she was having an affair with a married man.
It is the first time a Miss Japan winner has relinquished their title. The organizer said the post will be vacant for the year.

Shukan Bunshun reported last Wednesday that Shiino, 26, was dating a doctor who is married. However, the Miss Japan organizer rebutted the claim on Thursday, saying he had claimed he was single and that she was unaware he was married.

“Miss Japan Association believes there was no fault on the part of Karolina Shiino,” it said on its website.

But the association said Monday it had come to light that she'd dated him knowing he was married, and that she had apologized for lying about it. The association accepted Shiino’s offer to step down as Miss Japan.

Her agency Free Wave said in a statement on its website on Monday that the doctor initially said he was single, but Shiino continued the relationship even after she came to know that he was married. The agency has accepted Shiino's offer to terminate her contract with it.

Shiino posted a message on her Instagram on Monday saying she had been "unable to speak the truth due to confusion and fear."

Karolina Shiino, who has since relinquished her title as Miss Japan, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Thursday.
Karolina Shiino, who has since relinquished her title as Miss Japan, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Thursday. | LOUISE CLAIRE WAGNER
Shiino, who was born to Ukrainian parents, moved to Japan at the age of 5 after her parents divorced and her mother married a Japanese man, whose surname she now bears. She revealed in an Instagram post in September that she had become a naturalized citizen.

Shiino was crowned Miss Japan on Jan. 22, rekindling a debate about what it means to be Japanese. During the ceremony, she tearfully said that she felt grateful for finally being accepted as Japanese.

In an interview with The Japan Times last week, Shiino talked about how she had struggled with her identity growing up — that she looked different from her classmates and friends but still felt she was Japanese.

“All my life I’ve been told I’m not Japanese enough, both directly and indirectly, but I know I am Japanese. I can’t help it. Nobody has the right to tell me I’m not,” Shiino said.

“I don’t think it’s one thing that makes you Japanese. What I do know is that it’s a matter of the heart,” she said. “If a person thinks she is Japanese, then she is.”