Miss International

The pageant was created in Long Beach, California, in 1960 after the departure of the Miss Universe pageant to Miami Beach. Hosted in Long Beach until 1967, the pageant moved to Japan from 1968 to 1970, being hosted each year in the same city as the Expo ’70. For 1971, it was held in Long Beach again, but since that time it had been held annually in Japan until 2003. Since 2004, it is held in China or Japan. The first winner of the pageant in 1960 was Stella Araneta of Colombia.

Since then, Japan became the host country and the pageant has mostly been held in Japan, around autumn season either in October or November. The pageant is also called « Miss International Beauty ». The pageant advocacy is to achieve a world where women can live with positivity, inner strength and individuality. 

For the purpose of « friendship and good relations with all nations » through international exchanges, we have established this association that was approved as a corporation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of Cultural Exchange) in April 1969.

Since then, we have developed a wide range of exchanges under the slogans « for world peace through mutual understanding » and « correct understanding of Japan in the international community » as an international business contribution. At the International Cultural Association, we promote business appropriate for the internationalized society of the 21st century, and continue to actively expand the scope of international exchange, so that from now on we can contribute to the PR of Japan even more and have an even bigger mutual understanding with the world.

The slogan of Miss International is to « correct understanding of Japan in the international community » and « the realization of world peace through mutual understanding« .

2020 was the second time and 2021 was the third time the pageant has been cancelled since 1966, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controversy

The winner of Miss International 2012, Ikumi Yoshimatsu of Japan was stripped of her crown and was not able to crown her successor due to conflict with a talent agency that threatened her safety and the pageant night itself; instead Miss International 2008 Alejandra Andreu took over in passing on the crown to Bea Santiago of the Philippines. She was the first titleholder of the pageant from Japan to be dethroned shortly before the end of her reign. The organization has been criticized for not standing up for allegedly asking Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Miss International 2012, to skip the succession ceremony and « play sick and shut up » in order to avoid a scandal with a Japanese production company whose president allegedly was harassing Yoshimatsu.