Yoshikawa's mother is Japanese and her father is Bengali Indian. Her great-grandfather
Prafulla Chandra Ghosh was a politician and the first
Chief Minister of the
Indian state of
West Bengal. Yoshikawa was born in
Tokyo. From ages 6 to 9, she lived in
Sacramento, California. She also lived in
Kolkata for one year before returning to
Japan. She speaks fluent English,
Bengali and
Japanese. Before becoming Miss World Japan 2016, she worked as a translator and art therapist and also has a license to train elephants.
Discrimination Speaking to
AFP news, Yoshikawa recalled how she felt like a "germ" growing up in Japan due to her mixed-race heritage. She also stated that her experiences of discrimination were common among other
half-Japanese individuals that she knew. Following her win to represent Miss Japan in 2016, the
BBC reported that she received some backlash from Japanese netizens who questioned how someone who isn't of "pure" Japanese ancestry could represent Japan. In response, Yoshikawa stated that while she had some confusion over her identity due to her half-Indian ancestry, she knows that she is "Japanese" and proud to represent her native country. ==References==