Kurara Chibana - Miss Universe 2006 1st runner-up

Kurara Chibana (知花 くらら, Chibana Kurara), a Japanese model, born on March 27, 1982, is a native of Naha City (the capital of Okinawa Prefecture). She competed in Miss Universe 2006 and ended up as the 1st Runner-up.

Miss Universe 2006
Chibana is known for her participation in Miss Universe 2006 where she represented Japan. She won the best national costume award for her samurai/ninja-style outfit designed by the artist Yuichi Miyagawa and the designer Yoshiyuki Ogata, and later became the first runner-up for Miss Universe 2006. During the final, Chibana wore a black evening gown exhibiting intricate laticework designed by Olivier Theyskens for Rochas, and at the preliminaries, Chibana sported a unique red and pink-hued gown with silver corseting designed by Novespazio.

Her achievement was remarkable in the light of the fact that Japan has never come this close to winning the crown since 1959, when Akiko Kojima won the first Miss Universe crown for the Land of the Rising Sun. Kurara Chibana's successor, Miss Universe Japan 2007, Riyo Mori won as Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City. She also managed to outdo the two Japanese women who managed to enter the semi finals in most recent years (Miyako Miyazaki, fourth runner-up in 2003 and Mizuho Sakaguchi, 3rd runner-up in 1988).



Personal information
She was an educational-philosophy student at Sophia University. She got her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2006. She turned down a job offer from Japanese publishing company in order to compete in Miss Universe Japan pageant, which was held on April 25, 2006 in Tokyo. Kurara now works as a feature reporter, flying around the world to interview unique people for a leading fashion magazine in Japan. She writes and takes photos of their lifestyles. She can speak four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Japanese.

Since October 2006, she has appeared regularly on the NTV show "NEWS ZERO" reporting from both domestic and international locations, and launch her endorsement career as a spokesperson for more than four world-famous brands in 2007. She is the new spokeswoman for Maybelline New York's Angelfit Make-Up. In late December, Global Beauties named Kurara as the Sexiest Woman Alive 2006 - a title formally held also by, her co-patriot/beauty diva, Miyako Miyazaki.

Kurara is an avid sportswoman who loves tennis and swimming. She is also a certified kickboxing instructor. When it comes to food, 'goya', which is a type of bittermelon is her favourite. Her favorite song is Le Tourbillon de la vie by Jeanne Moreau and favorite movie is Un homme et une femme by Claude Lelouch. According to her, Un homme et une femme is her favorite movie because her favorite actors are Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée.

Source: Wikipedia

Gorgeous Kurara!! My real Miss Univese 2006....

for me she was ok and yeah id prefer her to win over Zuly. butg the one i wanted to win was Switzerland..........flawless beauty.....

WE CALL IT IN MY PLANET ASSYMETRIC

she was my favourite for winning the miss universe tittle...

She deserved her placement.

She´s so sexy. She is real winner

SHARKIE wrote:SHE WAS MY FAVOURITE FOR THE TITLE AND THE REASON WHY I WATCHED MISS UNIVERSE... (IT WAS MY FIRST TIME)

Same here! It was also my first time watching Miss Universe. And Kurara made me fall in love.

TIDUS wrote:

She looks GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Videos taken by Kurara Chibana herself

Miss Korea Universe 2006, Joo Hee Kim


In the bus


With Miss Switzerland


At backstage (I like it when she exposes her red samurai costume)


Having lunch with Miss Belgium, Slovenia, and Switzerland


Others

Taxi wrote:

SHARKIE wrote:SHE WAS MY FAVOURITE FOR THE TITLE AND THE REASON WHY I WATCHED MISS UNIVERSE... (IT WAS MY FIRST TIME)

Same here! It was also my first time watching Miss Universe. And Kurara made me fall in love.

same here! it was my first time too! i was surprised by her progress but i just loved the way she became happy when she advanced to the next round.. so child-like, and hence beautiful! i think she deserved her placement, and she would have great MU if she had won. best miss japan ever!!

HEY GUYS! I WOULD JUST LIKE TO DEDICATE MY 1000 POST TO THE MOST GOGEOUS FAR EAST ASIAN GODDESS " KURARA CHIBANA" SHES MY INSPIRATION ON PAGEANT WORLD, AND MOST OF ALL THANKS TO ALL THE PEEPS HERE EVEN WE DONT SEE EACH OTHER WE CAN STILL UNDERSTAND IN ANY ASPECT WE TACKLE. MY ONLY WISH IS TO BE A BEAUTY SPECIALIST!! O GAWD!!! BUT I THINK ITS NOT THE TAG THAT IS IMPORTANT BUT THE FREEDOM TO SHOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS!!! ANYWAYS THANK YOU ALL!!!!
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MISS OKINAWA KURARA CHIBANA!!

In my heart, she is Miss Universe 2006. I loved Switzerland too. I was so hoping one of them would win. Paraguay won me over too, as the night progressed.

vkry1605 wrote:She deserved her placement.

For me she deserved the CROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

beautiful but i think next years japan had nicest candidates as Hiroko Mima