The office of the Miss Japan organisers said Shiino’s renunciation of the title was accepted and the slot for the 2024 winner would remain empty.

The organisation said it “takes seriously our responsibility for causing the ruckus” and apologised to sponsors, judges and others involved. It said it defended Shiino at first, based on her initial explanation that the man she was involved with had told her he was divorced and that she broke up with him when she learned otherwise.

The scandal reignited a wave of criticism of Shiino on social media but also raised questions about why she was mostly blamed for the affair.

Loading

The man who was involved, Takuma Maeda, an influencer known as “muscle doctor”, acknowledged on Instagram that he had no intention of divorcing his wife and apologised for causing trouble to Shiino and others. He pledged to sincerely devote himself to his work and private life.

In Japan’s male-dominated culture, women are expected to be good mothers and wives, and are publicly chastised more than men in case of extramarital affairs.

Last year, famous Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue’s acting agency suspended her indefinitely from work contracts over her alleged affair with a married celebrity chef.

Shiino has lived in Japan since moving to the country at the age of five. Fluent in Japanese, she became a naturalised citizen in 2022. She has worked as a model and said she has as strong a sense of Japanese identity as anyone else, despite her Caucasian look.

AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.