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Naomi Osaka's Outspokenness Keeps Growing On Social Issues

Osaka before her U.S. Open matches this year wore masks with names of Black victims of police violenceGETTY IMAGES

Tennis player Naomi Osaka "has emerged as one of the most vocal antiracism activists in the sports world," according to Tiffany May of the N.Y. TIMES. She has written about "tackling racism while inhabiting multiple identities," and before her U.S. Open matches this year, Osaka "wore masks bearing the names of Black victims of police violence." Last week, a Nike Japan commercial "depicting the alienation of biracial children in the country showed a snippet of [Osaka] discussing the Black Lives Matter movement in a YouTube video." The ad "generated a backlash in Japan." Many of Osaka's sponsors in Japan "have been much more eager to link themselves to her tennis performance than her activism, with representatives of the companies sometimes expressing displeasure" in the Japanese news media. Meanwhile, a manga magazine in Japan this year "worked on an issue that will portray" Osaka as an "alien-vanquishing intergalactic tennis champion." But it "insisted on getting major details right" after Osaka last year was depicted with white skin in an ad for Japanese brand Nissin that received backlash. The manga issue "dwells firmly in the realm of fantasy." Titled "Naomi Unrivaled" and set to be released Dec. 28, it tells of a "coming-of-age story that takes place in outer space," with Osaka "battling extraterrestrials in a super-enhanced version of tennis" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/4).

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