The No. 1 Beauty in Japan

Since modern times, Japan has been very keen on selecting beautiful women, and various beauty contests have appeared. All kinds of beauty contests are being held in cities and towns, universities, and industries, and beautiful women are selected for publicity. The top three beauty pageants are "Miss Japan", "Miss International Japan" and "Miss Universe Japan". This year's (2022) Miss Japan has been announced and won by "Kono Mizuka (こうの・みずか)", a junior at International Christian University. (Let me mention that, the former Japanese princess who just left the Japanese imperial family also graduated from this university.)

However, the protagonist of this article is not the newly released Miss Japan, but the earliest Miss Japan beauty pageant champion " Suehiro Koroko " (すえひろひろこ/HIROKO), who was the first beauty pageant champion in Japan since records began. (In fact, the "Eight Industries" Miss Beauty Pageant was held earlier XD)

On March 5, 1908, the "News Newspaper" published the photo of the first place in the photo contest of a good family lady , which is the photo below. In fact, Miss Suhong didn't know about it herself, but her brother-in-law, the owner of the photo studio, after taking photos for her, consciously took the photos well, and sent the photos to the newspaper without authorization to apply for the beauty contest. (Note: March 5th has also become Japan's "beauty pageant festival")

The social atmosphere more than 100 years ago was different from today, not to mention the must-have swimsuit judges in modern beauty pageants, the women of the good family at that time did not easily show their faces. Only women in special occupations will make public appearances to make people comment. Therefore, the beauty pageant held by the newspaper only accepts photos for registration, and then the newspaper invites famous people from all walks of life to serve as judges to select the champion based on the photos.

It is said that more than 7,000 photos were submitted for the event, most of which were for the championship prizes, including diamond rings, with a total value of 20-30 million yen, but most of the photos made the newspaper staff shake their heads and sigh. Because the photos at that time were quite a test of the photographer's skills, the person being photographed may be taking pictures for the first time in his life, not to mention showing his most beautiful angle, the expression can be regarded as a good performance without being stiff. Miss Su Hong's brother-in-law may secretly send photos because she wants to show off her photography skills.

It should be a happy thing to be selected as the first place by everyone. The only bad thing is that Miss Suehong was born into a noble family, and she was a good lady. She was 16 years old when she was photographed, and she was studying in the third grade of the Gakushuin Women's Department. Her father was Kitakyushu at that time. Mayor of Kokura City.

Friends who are familiar with Japan should have heard of the school "Gakushuin". Most of the Japanese royal family and Chinese family (the name of modern Japanese aristocrats) attended this school. The name of the school was named by Emperor Meiji's father, "Emperor Xiaoming", according to the Chinese Analects of Confucius: "Learn and learn from time to time, not to say it", and was given a plaque.

Off topic, Prince Yuren, who is very likely to succeed as the next emperor, has been discussed because he did not attend this school, but he may also be affected by his cousin Princess Aiko because of the bullying incident while studying at Gakushuin Elementary School. influences. (The princess was bullied!)

At that time, the director of the "Learning Academy", Nogi Nogi , had been the governor of Taiwan and was also a key figure in the victory of the Russo-Japanese War. After Su Hong's photo was published in the newspaper, the head of the women's department determined that her behavior was corrupting the school spirit and insisted that she drop out of school. For the parties involved, it is really a calamity from the sky, a punishment like a thunderbolt!

There is a saying that Dean Naoki learned the truth later, Su Hong himself did not know that the photo was selected, but was expelled from school. In order to restore her reputation, he planned to help her find a good husband. Nogi's friend, the army general Nozu Michigan, heard about this and personally visited Nogi and said, "It just so happens that my parents and sons are of marriageable age, so let them see it on a blind date, how about it?" In this way, Nogi personally matched as a matchmaker and gave the Suehong family a great face. .

Gayin Nogi was a national hero of Japan at that time. He not only led the Japanese army to win the great power of Tsarist Russia, but also his two sons died in the battle during the Russo-Japanese War. After Emperor Meiji passed away, he and his wife also left a suicide note to follow the emperor to commit suicide by cutting his belly.

However, there is also a saying that Suehiro's father and Nozu Michigan had a good relationship and had arranged their marriage long ago.

Either way, it is true that Miss Suehiro was expelled from school because she became the most beautiful woman in Japan. Because of the follow-up development, the newspaper used two large pages to publish criticism articles about improper punishment by the school. Another major newspaper, the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun, also published a report of sympathy for Ms. Suehiro.

In fact, Japanese people not only like beauty pageants, but also like to tinker with various rankings or rankings. For example, Japan's three major scenic spots ("Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture", "Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture", and "Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture"), three major night scenes (Hakodate Mountain in Hakodate City, Maya Mountain in Kobe City, and Nagasaki City) Insa Mountain), ten historical ancient cities, one hundred famous springs...

2022/03/15 posted.

Original link to Japan behind-the-scenes observation