Japanese local governments have started scrapping or reforming events such as beauty pageants to select promotional tourism envoys, a sign of changing times as more people wish to freely express themselves, regardless of age, gender or background.
Many beauty contests were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, but with their resumption, there has been a renewal of formats emphasizing diversity that speak to a city's or town's individual characteristics.
For instance, the Isesaki Tourism & Products Association, located in Gunma Prefecture, altered the title of its tourism ambassador beauty contest from "Ms. Sunflower" to "Special Envoy," while dropping the requirement that contenders be unmarried women and opening the competition up to different genders.