"Sometimes they do blackface; it's ignorant...not a hate thing" - When Naomi Osaka laid bare the challenges of being Black and Japanese in Japan

Naomi Osaka once opened up about being Black and Japanese and the challenges she faced while living in Japan as a result. The former World No. 1 was of the belief that the issues were rooted not in hate but in “ignorance.”

Osaka, born in Japan to a Japanese mother, Tamaki Osaka, and a Haitian father, Leonard Francois, is the couple's second child after older sister, Mari. The sisters, who were born in Chuo-ku, Osaka, assumed their mother’s family name, as is the standard practice in the country when a parent holds a native citizenship.

Naomi Osaka’s family moved to the United States when she was just four years old, settling in Long Island, New York. Despite being raised in the US, Osaka often visited Japan and decided to represent the country professionally.

In an interview from 2020, though, the four-time Grand Slam champion recalled getting some curious glances during her time in Japan, arising from her mixed heritage. Having grown up in the US, Osaka pointed out the difference in how she was perceived in both countries.

She also threw light on the controversial traditions prevalent in the Asian country. The sense of discrimination stemmed from ignorance rather than hate, according to Osaka. She said in 2020 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal,

"The issues of America don’t really translate that well in Japan, so sometimes they do blackface and things like that, and it’s a bit ignorant... It’s not really a hate thing."

Commenting on her legacy, the former World No. 1 said:

"I’m just trying to put a platform out for all the Japanese people that look like me and live in Japan and when they go to a restaurant, they get handed an English menu, even though it’s just a little microaggression."

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Naomi Osaka on being perceived as Black in Japan - "I feel a lot of people think that way about me"

Naomi Osaka pictured at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games - Image Source: Getty

During the aforementioned interview, Naomi Osaka also narrated an incident from her childhood, where her compatriots misjudged her identity during a tennis competition.

Recalling the incident, she said,

"She (her opponent) was talking with another Japanese girl, and they didn’t know that I was listening (or that) I spoke Japanese. Her friend asked her who she was playing, so she said, 'Osaka.'

"And her friend says, ‘Oh, that Black girl. Is she supposed to be Japanese?’ And then the girl that I was playing was like, ‘I don’t think so.’ I remember that specifically because, yeah, I sometimes feel like a lot of people think that way about me."

Naomi Osaka is closely connected with both her parents’ cultures and proudly speaks about her diverse upbringing. The 27-year-old has often called it “her strength.” She has attributed her “soft-spoken” nature to her Japanese side and her “fierce competitiveness” to her Haitian side.