MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Japan's Riyo Mori said Tuesday she will be true to herself in her year long reign fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS as Miss Universe.
In an interview with The Associated Press hours after she was crowned, the 20-year-old dancer said she would not change in her new role.
"I don't want to be acting," said Mori, wearing a shimmering silver dress. "I just want to be myself, always be natural."
Under pageant rules, women crowned Miss Universe become advocates for AIDS/HIV research and education.
Mori showed some natural poise Monday in her first moments as Miss Universe, catching the diamond-and-pearl-studded crown that slipped off her head when Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera crowned her. Mori immediately placed the headpiece -- valued at US$250,000 (euro186,000) -- back on her head.
The new Miss Universe also criticized crash dieting.
"I had a friend with an eating disorder, but she always looked unhappy. She was never confident with her body, even though she was so thin," she said. "For me, it's so easy and so simple. Just eat right."
The only other time Japan has won the pageant was in 1959, when Akiko Kojima became the first Miss Universe from Asia. Since then, several women from the region have worn the crown.
"She is an amazing champion, an amazing woman, and I hear that they go totally insane in Japan, so that's good," said Donald Trump, who co-owns the pageant with NBC.
Miss USA Rachel Smith, who slipped and fell to the floor during the evening gown competition and was jeered by the Mexican audience during the interview phase, was the contest's fourth runner-up.
Mori, from the small town of Shizuoka at the base of Mount Fuji, won the cheers of the Mexico City audience when she opened her interview with "Hola, Mexico!"
"I learned how to always be happy, be patient and to be positive, and this is what I want to teach to the next generation," she said during the interview competition.
The daughter of a dance school operator, Mori said her grandmother told her as a child that she wanted her to be Miss Japan before she turned 20.
"From the very beginning, I entered the competition with high hopes and an unswerving determination to make this dream a reality," she said in a pre-competition interview.
She wants to someday open an international dance school in Tokyo.
"Right now I am only 20 years old, so I'm really excited about what I'm going to be able to do at this age to benefit society," Mori said.
Natalia Guimaraes of Brazil was the runner-up. Ly Jonaitis of Venezuela placed third, and Honey Lee of Korea was fourth.
The winner travels the world for a year on behalf of AIDS education, charities and pageant sponsors.
Also Tuesday, Miss Peru Jimena Elias appeared on the Televisa network's main morning newscast, begging a Mexico taxi driver to return luggage left in his car. After she described the contents of the luggage -- designer clothes, jewelry and makeup worth hundreds of dollars -- news anchor Carlos Loret de Mola suggested she offer cash or a kiss as a reward.
She shook her head no at the suggestion of a kiss, but said she would see whether her father would offer a reward.
