Kiko Mizuhara 水原希子
Audrie Noriko Daniel, known as Kiko Mizuhara (水原希子), is highly influential in Japan's fashion scene (The Business of Fashion). Although she was born in Dallas, Texas, she spent most of her life in Japan (水原 希子 All about Kiko Mizuhara).
She started her modeling career after winning Seventeen Japan's competition in 2003. Recently, Elle Japan, Numero Tokyo, Nylon Japan, Vogue Girl Japan and Ginza Magazine have regularly featured her. Additionally, she has worked with international brands, such as Chanel and Dior. She debuted as an actress in "Norwegian Wood," and has had success in this industry as well.
As a white-Korean celebrity in Japan, Kiko is well-acquainted with cyberbullying from Japanese netizens. After revealing that her mother is Zainichi Korean, Japanese twitter erupted with people claiming that "she is pretending to be Japanese or that she is anti-nationalistic" (Yamasaki). Other comments pertained to discrimination against Koreans and how she did not "qualify" to be a model for Suntory (Kim).
She wrote a tweet in response to the hate, and wrote (translated from Japanese) "Wherever you were born, whichever country you were raised, and wherever you’re living, the fact that you’re an Earthian doesn’t change... I will live as I am with a stubborn heart so that the world can move closer to be a place where people can live as who they are, wherever they are at." As a transnational, biracial white-Korean model, Kiko Mizuhara serves as an example of redefining "Japanese model," "Korean," and "American."
Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas, USA
Nationality: American
Background of Parents: Father is white-American and mother is Zainichi Korean
Languages Spoken: Japanese (native), English (fluent in speaking, basic in writing), Korean (basic)
Profession: Model, Actress
Sentiment Data from Youtube
KIKO MIZUHARA | The REAL Her
Video Summary
The video is a compilation of Kiko Mizuhara being silly, talking to others, and vlogging.
Data Collection Parameters
Collected a sample of the most recent 70 comments, only including English and Chinese comments related to Kiko, and sorted them into the different categories shown below. Comments could fit into multiple categories. Due to the subjective nature of interpreting the comments there may be some discrepancy in the data. To see examples of comments that fit strictly into one category, view the excel sheet with extracted comments. They are labeled accordingly to match the graph above.
Data Analysis
The top three categories in the graph are compliments related to compliments/praise, GD/relationships, and hate towards Kiko. Most comments were from fans gushing over how adorable or silly Kiko Mizuhara is and how people understand why GD and other guys like her. There were also a few comments about how she's ugly, fake, etc. There were also a few comments relating to how she is "pretending" to be Japanese and is actually Korean, similar to the tweets she has received from Twitter. Aside those who are jealous and cannot accept a biracial white-Korean as a Japanese model, it seems like the attitudes towards Kiko are relatively positive, which is likely influenced by the fact that the video is meant to highlight Kiko's charms.