Well what do we mean by “Japanese”? When we think of Japanese, stereotypically we think of fully-Asian, Japanese-ethnicity Japanese. But we are forgetting that people like Naomi Osaka herself, being half-black and half-Asian, is also Japanese, although she won’t be if she decides to not keep her Japanese nationality, as Japan technically doesn’t allow dual-citizenship (although there are no strict laws against it).
Stereotypical Japanese:
Most people in Japan think highly of Naomi Osaka, because let’s face it, she just beat Serena Williams and is now a grand slam champion. So there’s a sort of a national pride that she is “Japanese” and is a grand slam champion. But clearly there’s a double standard here, because for the most part, “half-Japanese” people like her in Japan are often ignored, and even discriminated against, unless they do something special, like say become the grand slam champion. Then suddenly, they are “Japanese” and are fully accepted by the society. Although still, they will be treated differently.
A half-American, half-Japanese person posted about this hypocrisy and double-standard on a twitter post, and it went viral. She pointed out how people in Japan regularly discriminate against people like Naomi Osaka in their daily lives, and now suddenly they’re accepting her as being fully Japanese. Although, people who are willing to have a genuine dialogue about this are still in the minority. The vast majority of people in Japan simply do not care about what goes on in the lives of the “half-Japanese” people, unless of course, they do something extraordinary.
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