The newly crowned Miss Japan is being forced to defend her crown after critics accused the Nagasaki native of “not being Japanese enough” because she is biracial.

Ariana Miyamoto had to stand her ground during her first meeting with the Japanese media, saying she may not “look Japanese” on the outside, but on the inside, “there are many Japanese things about her”, according to the blog Kotaku.

The 20-year-old is the daughter of a Japanese mother and African-American father.

In Japan, Miyamoto is known as a “hafu” – half-Japanese because of her mixed ethnicity.

“Sometimes, due to their alluring features, haafu are not always treated the same, or even as Japanese, as their native peers,” Japan’s Rocket News 24 reported. “Miss Nagasaki faced her fair share of race-related challenges too and although some people are against her acting as a representative for Japan due to her mixed heritage, she is also receiving a lot of support.”

Miyamoto practices calligraphy, grew up in Nagasaki and returned to the country after living in the U.S. for high school.

She will represent Japan in the Miss Universe 2015 pageant.