Self-important brat

個人的には沢尻エリカに関しては「別に」というところですが、CNNがどのように、この"revelation"をとらえたかには興味がありました。self-important bratのbratは「（行儀の悪い）子供」という意味です。（Persimmon柿生）
Erika Sawajiri: Inside the head of Japan's outspoken star
Self-important brat or liberated artist?/span> The controversial singer and actress Erika Sawajiri once again breaks ranks to denounce her 'outdated' industry
By Robert Michael Poole 1 September, 2010
"Restricting talented people is the biggest problem in the entertainment business in Japan," says 24-year-old Erika Sawajiri. "This is the 21st century and it has to change." The sheer frankness of the enigmatic model, actress and singer is certainly an unusual, and I must say refreshing, occurrence in conservative Japan. She has gained a reputation as a difficult, thorny character. But now, in her first ever English-language interview, Sawajiri simply comes across as honest, direct and passionate about changing how Japanese entertainers are treated by their agencies. She has been a revelation to the orderly, deferential world of Japanese entertainers, causing controversy after controversy ever since her infamous "betsu ni" ("not really") responses at a press conference in September 2007.  Speaking near-fluent English, and without hesitation -- a real rarity in Japan -- confidence and self-assurance clearly runs through her veins.  
An exceptional background
Perhaps Erika Sawajiri was born to be an exception. Born to a Berber (indigenous north-African) mother and a wealthy Japanese father, her upbringing was anything but standard. "My mum was born in Algeria but moved here from Paris when she was 24 or 25, met my father and stayed. My grandparents died already and I never met them, so I have no contact with my mom's side, but she has six brothers and sisters that I met when I was a child," she explains.
"I never learned Berber or French, though I will someday, but my mother always listened to Arabic music and Gypsy Kings when I grew up and that makes a big impression." Growing up mixed-race in Japan is still a rarity, and many feel excluded from Japanese society, as they are considered neither foreign, nor fully Japanese. In recent years attitudes in Tokyo at least have begun to change, thanks to a growing number of celebrities, especially singers, with mixed background. Artists like Crystal Kay (Korean and African-American), Thelma Aoyama (Trinidadian and Japanese) and Kaela Kimura (British and Japanese) have started to change public opinion on what it means to be Japanese. Though some like Angela Aki (Italian-American and Japanese) have spoken of challenges growing up in such an ethnically homogenous nation.  "I never went to an international school, so I think I'm totally Japanese," says Sawajiri. "But I had a long-held ambition to go to another country, especially in Europe and at 21 I decided to go to London." 
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/erika-sawajiri-548777