Momoka Kurita made quite an impression when she posed as a “race queen” during a superbike racing event in Japan, last year. Adult men showered her with compliments for her stunning looks, but little did they know that she was just 12-years-old at the time, and still in elementary school.

Her appearance at the 2016 48th MFJ Grand Prix, in Suzuka, kickstarted Momoka’s modelling career, but it also sparked a heated online debated about age in the industry. While recognizing her stunning looks, many argued that dressing a 12-year-old child in a sexy attire and having her participate in an adult event was just wrong. Most of them blamed the parents, but the now 13-year-old girl claims that nobody forced her into it, and that her parents are just supportive of her dreams.

Photo: Momoka Kurita/Instagram

Following the success of her first important experience as a model, Momoka has already been contacted by a number of major brands, and is currently juggling her studies, modelling gigs, ballet lessons, while somehow finding time for piano, guitar and gymnastics. She’s got a lot on her plate, that’s for sure, which has prompted some internet commenters to say that Kurita is being robbed of her childhood.

Photo: Momoka Kurita/Instagram

“Don’t you dare steal her childhood,” one person wrote on social media.

“She’s cute, but dressing up an elementary student as a race queen is just wrong,” another said.

Photo: Momoka Kurita/Instagram

“What’s so interesting about dressing up a child as an adult? Stop it already.”

SoraNews24 reports that Momoka is also auditioning for Tokyo Girls Audition (TGA), a big yearly event aimed at discovering young models and performers.

Photo: Momoka Kurita/Instagram

Momoka Kurita is not the first girl to spark a debate about age in the modelling industry. Three years ago, we wrote about then 9-year-old Kristina Pimenova, dubbed the “world’s most beautiful girl”, who already had an impressive portfolio of clients like Vogue, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana.

Photo: Momoka Kurita/Instagram