Japan’s Olympics team is busting myths about national identity
Articles about Japan tend to reinforce outdated platitudes to describe Japanese people, often using adjectives such as polite, shy, kind, traditional — and homogenous. Imagine readers’ surprise, then, when they turned on the television to watch the Opening Ceremonies of Tokyo 2020, only to find that a country they’ve been told is a haven of homogeneity had selected NBA rising star Rui Hachimura as one of its flag bearers and had given the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron to tennis champion Naomi Osaka. Both are figures much of the Japanese public would classify as either “kokujin” (Black) or “gaikokujin” (un-Japanese) without a moment’s hesitation if they weren’t famous.… Seguir leyendo »