Call me trite, but Sakumi Shimose's July 27 letter, "Japanese beauty on world's stage," totally misses the point! Japanese women and men can be confident on the world stage while being proud of their heritage and culture, not just their looks.
If a woman is beautiful, or if a man is handsome, then good for them. I wish I were so! But as Shimose implies, beauty is only skin deep, and the shameful vanity of Miss Universe and my own country's (Britain's) spate of let's-make-a-celebrity- type television shows are a sham.
I admire Japan deeply and appreciate the aesthetic beauty of its people. I'm no prig and admire the beauty of a gentle face, but let's get our priorities right, please.
julian whitney
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