pictures to share with you….this picture of myself, was taken at my office for MSN website. (by Yuko Sudo) 皆さんにお見せしたい写真をアップしました…上はMSNのWebサイト用に、オフィスで撮影した1枚です。（スドウ ユウコ撮影） Below in Nagoya with last year top 5 finalist Maiko who translated for me during a presentation I did in in Matsuzaka Department store, and together with my sweet assistant Ai, after my book signing session. 下は名古屋・松坂屋で行われた、私の本のプレゼンテーション＆サイン会後の一枚。昨年トップ５に選ばれたファイナリスト、マイコ（左）が通訳をしてくれました。 真ん中は私のスウィートなアシスタント、アイです。 below, with my baby girls, Kurara and Riyo at home while shooting the cover of my first book published by Magazine House. (photo by Marc Albert) 下は私のベイビーガールズ、くららと理世。自宅で行われた、マガジンハウスから出版している私の1冊目の本の撮影中です。（マーク・アルバート撮影）   Taking the 4 of the finalists for an helico ride above Tokyo. (photo by Cassio) 撮影のため、4名のファイナリストたちとヘリコプター飛行をした時の一枚です。（カシオ撮影） Chatting with topmodel Jessica at the Bvlgari Briiliant Award event held at the fabulous Mitsui Club in Tokyo. 東京・綱町三井倶楽部で行われた「The Bvlgari Briiliant Award」で、トップモデルのジェシカと。 Translation by Ayako Nagahama

If you have a  moment, pls read this article published in The Japan Times newspaper, last week. Thank you! 先週発行された「The Japan Times 」の記事です。時間があったら読んでくださいね！

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080327f2.html

Hiroko, our beautiful and fun Miss Japan by Cassio 上はカシオの撮影による、私たちの美しくて面白いミス・ユニバース・ジャパンのヒロコです。 Outfit by Etro 衣装はEtro Hair by Sunao for Toni&Guy Harajuku ヘアスタイルはToni&Guy原宿のスナオさん Make-up by Tomo Itokawa for Ants メイクはAntsのイトカワ トモさんです。 (Original pictures, not retouched) （写真は修正前のオリジナルのものです。） Hiroko will arrive inVietnam on June 19th to compete for a back-to-back title at Miss Universe 2008 on July 14th ヒロコは7月14日の世界大会で連続2度目の日本代表栄冠を狙うため、6月19日にベトナムの地へ降り立ちます。 Translation by Ayako Nagahama

日本大会の審査員の方々を写真とともにご紹介します。 Some pictures from the show last week… Judges Don Konishi (fashion designer) & Kazumasa Terada (Samantha Thavasa CEO) Satomi Ogawa (MUJ 1999 and opera singer) Kazuyuki Yamamuro WWD Editor-in-chief, Kurara Chibana 写真は上から、ドン小西氏(ファッションデザイナー)、寺田和正氏(サマンサタバサジャパンリミテッド代表取締役社長)、小川里美さん(1998 ミス・ユニバース・日本代表。現在はオペラ歌手として活動中) 山室一幸氏(WWDジャパン 編集長)、そして知花くららさん(2006 ミス・ユニバース日本代表) . beautiful Shizuka Kudo 上はいつも美しい工藤静香さん Riyo at the rehearsals リハーサルでの理世 I FINISHED MY LAST DAY INTERVIEW WITH NHK TODAY. THE 30 MN WILL BE BROADCASTED ON MAY 3RD AT 10:25 PM. WATCH IT PLEASE! 本日NHKからの最後の取材を終えました。5月3日 22：25より30分のドキュメンタリーが放映されます。絶対に観てくださいね！ Translation by Ayako Nagahama

Friday 4th of April celebrating Autism day with the finalists, the creative team and Hiroko Mima. It happened the next day of the show also it was good to get all together again. The event was created and organized by my friend Clare Humphreys. 4月4日（金）クリエイティブ（創作）・チーム、ファイナリストたちと新ミス・ユニバース・ジャパンの美馬 寛子と共に、自閉症の子供達のふれあいデーに参加してきました。この日は日本大会が終了した翌日で、嬉しいことにまた皆で集まることができました。イベントは私の友人クレア・ハンフリーズが主催してくれました。 Thank you very much Clare! ありがとう、クレア！！ see the pictures at 右のサイトにこの日の写真が掲載されています。AUTISM AWARENESS DAY

Thank you to the finalists for playing with the littles ones even with the cold… love you all.

ファイナリストのみんな、イベントへの参加と子供達と遊んでくれて本当にありがとう。この日はとても寒かったのに…みんな、愛してるわ！ Translation by Ayako Nagahama

ふ～・・・忙しい日々が続きます。 今日はこれから寛子・理世・くらら。あとMiss KoreaのSunの四人で今までにないビッグなフォトシューティングが始まります！ 今はヘアメイクの真っ最中です。 とってもエキサイティング！！ できあがった写真は後ほどアップしますので、楽しみにしていてくださいね♪ Have a nice day! Today, such a busy schedule, after dropping my 2 boys at school, I rushed to the office for interview and shoot with a magazine called Croissant. Then everyone arrived: Cassio and his assistants; Sunao for Toni&Guy and all his assistants; and Tomofumi Itokawa for Ants & his make-up team.   Asami chose the most gorgeous clothes from the Etro new collection, and we are shooting all day with Cassio. The fabulous:      Kurara, Riyo, Hiroko, Sun (miss Korea) and myself. You will love the pictures. Actually we shot the official pictures of Miss Japan and Miss Korea for Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam. Cassio is the best, the girls look amazing! Riyo shot fisrt and she is now on her way to the airport. I cried wawing at her car saying good-bye….. I will see her again in a month, at the Formula One, Monaco Grand Prix end of May together with Sun (Miss Korea) and Hiroko (Miss Japan) while we are in the South of France for training.

NIHON TAIKAI!

SEE THE VIDEO!

 情報ライブミヤネ屋 4月7日（月）13:55～14:30/日本テレビ（よみうりテレビ） ◎美の競演・・・ミス・ユニバース日本代表決定その舞台裏に完全密着 是非ご覧ください！ Please watch “Jyouhou live Miyane ya” Monday, April 7,2008 13:55～14:30/ Nihon TV (Yomiuri TV) A complete behind-the-scenes look at the Miss Universe Japan competition

 

Please watch the special 2-hours program, on Fuji TV (CX), channel 8, Sunday 6 of April,        4 to 5:30 pm,        

A homage to Hiroko, our new winner this year.I would like to congratulate you – my sweet Hiroko and tell everyone in Japan and in the world that I am very proud to introduce you and l’m looking forward to spending a year working with you. From the start, when I first saw you, I thought that you are the representation of many young women in this world – with a lot of personal dramas and sadness, but also possessing ’survival-joy’ and an incredible strength to overcome hardships. Hiroko was finishing her third year of university with one year left ahead of her, when she happened to see the announcement on the news that Riyo Mori had just won Miss Universe, the World Cup for Women. Riyo was saying that her strength came from her family dramas and that she wanted to give hope to her family and that it had been her main motivation to win Miss Universe from the beginning. Hiroko received this message of hope straight into her heart and sent her application to MUJ thinking “Riyo is a normal girl with my background, if she could do it, I certainly can do it as well”!Definitely she did! The story of the show this year was about love, and a day spent on a Fashion Island. It included scenes of everyone’s arrival by private jet, yacht and helicopter. Then a photo-shoot with Cassio on the beach. Later, an evening party followed by a breaking-out drama between the ‘couples’. The happy ending being a ‘marriage proposal’ which would indicate the winner to the audience…. Also the finalists and their partners did a lot of acting this year within the show. I am finally getting further and further away from the old-fashioned ‘beauty-queen’ image and its way of choosing the winner based only on outside-beauty. Hmmm… it took me 11 years fighting against tradition to come this far. Now, let me tell you what happened backstage during the show. After the announcement of the top five, Hiroko came backstage and dropped to her knees thinking of her family and shaking with nervousness. She said to Steven her partner: “I cannot do it! Something will happen! I cannot walk! I am not good enough!”. Basically, in that instant all her confidence had gone, and she was numbed again. I want to give my love, my respect and my gratitude to Steven my sweet friend for years, for shouting at Hiroko backstage, shaking her out of her nervous state and dragging her with love and encouragement back onto the stage again for her evening dress walk. First step on stage, dropping Steven’s hands with a last look straight into his eyes, the image of her father flashed into her eyes, it was all that she could see. Then her heart became a temple holding her family’s love which she transformed into a ball of fire. The judges later said that they never saw a Japanese girl with so much depth and so much aura!  There were seven judges that night, six voted (I passed). Five voted for Hiroko – a first! When the top-five partners were lining up on stage at the time of the winner announcement, they all shook hands with our lawyer hoping to get ‘the ring’ which was the message that their partner had won, well…. Steven was given ‘the ring’. He told me afterwards that his mind went totally blank for a minute. He was so shocked that he thought for a while that he had just taken his own ring from his own pocket by mistake! Then reality struck, and the five partners walked to the front of the stage to be with the top five finalists and then Steven heard “2008 Miss Universe Japan winner is:” all he could hear was the beautiful voice of Bono and Mary J. Blige in the background singing, “one love, one hope…. ” . While the entire auditorium went silent, Steven slowly turned toward Hiroko and as planned, he knelt down, took her hand and said “would you marry me?” while handing her the ring (just an act within the show scenario!). She screamed in joy and realized she had just won the competition. Another reason why I believe Hiroko is a perfect winner to represent women of Japan to the world is that she chose Steven to be her partner when I introduced the partners to the finalists. Ten boys: three Japanese, six Caucasians…. and one Black … and Hiroko chose him. I wish the world would be like Hiroko and that the prejudices would finally disappear. I am writing this just now because I still cannot get over that Steven was told at a press club in Tokyo by a white-American that he had to leave the premises because he is black! Two weeks later I am still madly-furious. Why can’t we all live a life with no differences, no segregation, no skin color distinction? Isn’t it enough that people in Africa die of hunger or from lack of medical care? Isn’t it enough that women have to give away their own children so that he/she could have a chance to survive?! When will the world be like what Hiroko holds in her eyes? A message of hope and love. I decided I would like to represent Yukari and Kana and send them both onto the Fashion Weeks in Milano, Paris, Tokyo and New York. They both finished after Hiroko and will definitely grace the magazines with their perfect beauty and sweet personalities. Congratulations to all of you Moe, Sayo, and also Rui, Yoshimi, Azusa, Chie and Yuri. To our stunning and fabulous partners, to the ZEAL studio and its mega talented dancers. And, thank you all for coming to the AUTISM AWARENESS DAY yesterday in Hiroo and playing with the children, and again giving a message of hope to many families in Japan dealing with limited access to new information regarding Autism. (We are proud parents of an autistic angel). I love you all very dearly beauties, thank you for your support and to Hiroko as well for dropping by between television interviews. Most of all to Milly my fantastic and amazing art director who choreographed the show, and who has worked with me for the last 11 years ago, together with Andrea our backstage Director. I am so lucky. Love to all involved, up to 200 people working together to produce this annual event. Sorry I cannot write all the names as it would never end! Please watch the special 2-hours program on Fuji TV (CX), channel 8, tomorrow Sunday from 4 pm Sunday 6 of April, 4 to 6 pm, channel 8 other special programs are NHK national NTV program Tokudane program broadcasting dates and time will be given soon. Stay tuned! Merci!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ユカリとカナをミラノ、パリ、東京、そしてニューヨークのファッション・ウィークに代表で参加してもらうことに決めました。彼女たちの完璧な美しさとスウィートな性格がファッション雑誌を飾ることでしょう。 トップ5に選ばれたモエ、サヨ、本当におめでとう。そしてルイ、ヨシミ、アズサ、チエ、ユリ、本当に良く頑張りましたね。魅力的で素晴らしいパートナー達、ＺＥＡＬスタジオと才能あるダンサーの方たち、本当にありがとうございました。昨日、広尾で行われた自閉症啓発デーに参加してくれてありがとう。現在のところ、自閉症治療に関する新しい情報は、本当にごくわずかですが、自閉症の子供を抱える家族たちにとって励ましや希望のメッセージが伝えられたことと思います。（私と夫は自閉症の天使（子供）の親であることを誇りに思っています。）親愛なるビューティーたちに愛をこめて…あなた達のサポートに感謝します。そしてＴＶのインタビューの間に駆けつけてくれたヒロコ、本当にありがとう。そして11年間一緒に仕事をし、今回のショーの振り付けも担当してくれたファンタスティックなアート・ディレクターのミリー、バックステージ・ディレクターのアンドレア、ありがとう、私は本当に恵まれています。このイベントを成功させるに関わってくれたすべての方たち（200名くらい）に愛を！　全員の名前を書くことができなくてごめんなさい！ 明日、日曜日4ｐｍからフジテレビで放映される1時間半の特別番組もチェックしてくださいね！他にも…NHK日本テレビ 特ダネ　　　　で放映予定です。　日にちと時間は決まり次第お知らせしますね！メルシー！4ｔｈ2 時間の特別番組が放映されます！見てくださいね！フジテレビ2008 年4月6日（日）16:00～17:30