At Japanese universities, female science and engineering majors are definitely in the minority. Even in Tokyo, it’s not uncommon for ladies to make up less than 10% of enrollment for science departments. But the elusive rikei joshi, or “science girl,” does exist and Japanese student organization CURIE is holding a pageant called “Miss Rekei Contest” to give them a chance to prove they’ve got beauty as well as brains.

The pageant will be held on September 12 at the Kitazawa Town Hall located about 10 minutes from Shimokitazawa station in Tokyo. An unveiling ceremony will also be held at Club Maruyama59 in Shibuya on August 12 where you can meet the 6 lovely contestants and mingle with fellow rikei joshi enthusiasts over a buffet dinner.

The contestants hail from some of Tokyo’s top universities and are majoring in fields from programming to biology.

1. Shiho Nakaoka
Waseda University Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (1st year masters candidate, biochemistry)

2. Akira Hayashi
Keio University Department of Administrative Engineering (Undergraduate senior、administrative engineering)

3. Ryoko Suwa
Toho University Department of Biology (Undergraduate senior, biology)

4. Mariko Uchida
Chuo University Department of Mathematics (Undergraduate junior, mathematics)

5. Mayumi Hino
Ochanomizu University Department of Information Sciences (Undergraduate junior, programming)

6. Yuri Minami
Tokyo Institute of Technology Department of Material Science & Engineering (1st year masters candidate, chemistry)

So which rikei joshi gets your beaker boiling?

For more information and pictures of the contestants be sure to check out the contest page over at the CURIE website.