Here’s the Real Reason Naomi Osaka Gave Up Her US Citizenship—& It Wasn’t Just For the Olympics
As someone who was born in Japan, grew up in America and plays tennis for Japan, Naomi Osaka‘s nationality can seem complicated to some. Naomi—whose mother is from Hokkaido, Japan, and whose father is from Jacmel, Haiti—was born in Chūō-ku, Osaka in Japan on October 16, 1997.
In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, Naomi’s mother, Tamaki, explained that Naomi and her sister, Mari, took their mother’s last name, Osaka, instead of their father’s, Francois, so that it would be easier if the sisters stayed in Japan and enrolled in school or rented apartments. However, after she was born, Naomi didn’t stay in Japan long. When she was 3 years old, Naomi and her family moved to the United States. They first lived with her father Leonard’s...
