The Kawaii Ambassador Debacle that everyone should know about
Let’s start with the basics. I’m sure it was obvious to most of us, but for those unfamiliar, this Kawaii Ambassador decision is a big fucking deal in lolita culture, especially for the USA because we have not had an appointed KA yet and some countries have more than one. The KA works alongside Misako Aoki spreading knowledge and praise for lolita fashion and Japanese “kawaii culture”, creating positive a positive relationship between Japan and the country of the KA’s origin, and organizing large-scale events for lolitas, in this case in various parts of the United Sates, with Misako’s attendance and support.
Anime Matsuri announced that at AM would be the first selected KA from the United States. Cue insanity, speculation, rumors, and overall buzz within the USA lolita community. Everyone was very excited about this. The application process was online on the AM website. I, myself, even applied.
Now the following information comes straight from the Kawaii Ambassadors’ mouthes, whose specific names I will not mention here, who were truly disgusted with how things went down. It’s worth mentioning that 3 of the KA’s have already stepped down at this point, 2 of which immediately after AM. I can tell you that many girls applied from all over the United States. However, only 2 girls applied from Houston., which I admittedly was surprised to hear considering John Leigh’s influence and power position in the lolita community there You would think that AM staffers would have applied — perhaps they feared backlash from the lolita community if they were chosen, considering that many rumors were circulating that the KawaiI Ambassador position would be fixed (and it was). Anyway, one was girl was Ann and the other was a girl less involved with HLC whose name I will not mention. A lot of girls from Austin and other parts of Texas also applied, but it was otherwise a mixed bag of applicants.
Fast forward quickly to the fashion show. Ann was in the Angelic Pretty group with us, but had a major role in the fashion show. Some of us were wondering why purely out of curiosity. I, at the time, assumed it was because she was John Leigh’s cousin or something or that the two children (who were those people??) were relatives of hers? I don’t know, but at the time I was trying to make sense of it all based on how closely she was interacting with John Leigh, moreso than the other staff members or any other model staff members, as well. What I’m getting at is that they were unusually close and it was odd.
Let’s talk about the wedding. Did anyone else think it was very bizarre that there was this big lolita wedding that was a major event (I forget if it was in the actual con schedule or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised) at Anime Matsuri? Most everyone I spoke with agreed that, yes this was weird, just kind of strange thing to be publicized by the Leighs’… And if you don’t think it’s weird, perhaps you’re literally so well-adjusted to the zany activities that have gone on at this convention through the years that it didn’t even phase you. #onlyatAM! Now, I didn’t attend the wedding because after the fashion show I became very sick and was resting in my hotel room, so this is the general gist of the situation. So Ann gets married at the convention, and her bridesmaids consist of Chokelate, Misako, and Midori among others. And Akira, who is on the groomsmen side, something she was apparently very upset about. Does this sound like an unusual wedding to you yet? It seems like a promotional event… but for what? The new Kawaii Ambassador! (Bonus: Midori and Akira both had panels after this, both of which they did not know about until the day of. Mazeltov!)
Fast forward again to the Kawaii Ambassador decision panel, which I did attend albeit barely as i was still quite ill. We all gathered into a room and sat as the KA’s in attendance sat on stage with Misako and we learned more about each one of them, their qualifications with regard to events they had hosted and how they had influenced the lolita community, etc. This was nice, I enjoyed getting to know the KA’s on a more personal level. Finally Misako arrives ready to make the big announcement! PAUSE.
Let’s talk about what lead up to this, once again coming straight from the KA’s. There were obviously a lot of applicants, so several of the KA’s were told BY JOHN to create a powerpoint type of document outlining each applicant, why they were qualified, characteristics, photos, etc to share with Misako to help her make the best possible decision. There was a meeting of all the KA’s at AM with Misako to discuss who would be the USA’s first KA. At this meeting, there was a healthy and productive discussion on who was the most well-rounded, qualified girl for the job. Names were thrown around, I know them but will not mention them here. Hell, I think I know who would have been chosen. IF John Leigh did not step in and RELENTLESSLY urge Misako that “he could not work with someone who was not from Houston, the KA must be from Houston”. I know this is going to enrage a lot of you, but I can tell you that that is EXACTLY what happened and Misako relented. I’m not even going to touch on why the fuck it would matter in a MILLION YEARS what John Leigh requires from the KA because obviously it doesn’t matter, because it SHOULDN’T matter, but apparently it did matter because Misako selected Ann at that point and all other discussion was closed. Remember the document? Think about how many people applied, extensive work was put into it to help Misako make a good decision. It’s a shame it was never even used. Why would John Leigh tell the KA’s to make it if it was completely irrelevant to the decision? The decision was decided months ago.
Back to the announcement. I’m not sure how everyone else was feeling at the time, but if you didn’t think it was going to be Ann, in my opinion you are lying to yourself. The above statement from the KA’s confirms it, but if you think about it, things were pretty much in piece. So Misako announces it is Ann. Convenient isn’t it. For who? John.
Now I know this is an extremely scathing account of what happened and I would be lying if I wasn’t bitter. In fact I’m pretty mad about it, for a lot of reasons. That Misako allowed John to influence her decision — it brought up a lot of questions for me as to what’s going on behind the scenes with her and John Leigh. I don’t know anything about that, other than she’s been referred to as a one trick pony and someone who will do as she’s told, which honestly breaks my heart. The panelists on the KA board did NOT SUPPORT THIS DECISION. The decision was already made before that meeting even happened. Do what you want with this information, but I thought people should know the truth.
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