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Olympics carry a question: What does it mean to be Japanese?
By MARI YAMAGUCHIAugust 4, 2021 GMT
TOKYO (AP) Two multiracial athletes, two high-profile roles: Rising NBA star Rui Hachimura carried the Japanese flag at the Olympics’ opening ceremony. Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron. For Japan, it was a remarkable showcase of racial diversity but one that also highlighted how much remains missing in a nation that values homogeneity and conformity.
Osaka and Hachimura, both of whom have one foreign parent and one Japanese parent, were cheered warmly by many even as some nationalists pounded them online for not being “pure Japanese.” It has rekindled a debate on racial identity that points toward a particular and thorny question: What does it mean to be Japanese?