A difficult choice of nationality
Regarding the Paris Olympics, the Japanese media has been reporting enthusiastically on the progress of the Japanese national team, especially those athletes who are in the running for medals. I would also like to know about the achievements of foreign athletes and minor sports, but these are rarely covered.
One day, I came across a newspaper headline that read, “Japanese-born Christa Deguchi wins gold medal.” The headline didn’t say “Japanese” or “Japanese,” but “from Japan.” She is a member of the Canadian women’s 57kg judo team, but she was born and raised in Japan, so she appealed to Japanese readers by using the term “from Japan.”
Deguchi was born in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture in 1995. Her father is Canadian and her mother is Japanese. She started judo at the age of three and went on to Matsumoto Shogakuen High School in Matsumoto, where he won the National High School Championships in his first year. She then went on to Yamanashi Gakuin University, but in 2017 he chose to represent Canada.
Until then, Deguchi held both Japanese and Canadian citizenship, but under Japanese nationality law she was required to choose one nationality by the age of 22, and chose Canadian nationality. She had studied judo in Japan and was designated as a training athlete by the All Japan Judo Federation (AJJF), but the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun newspaper in Nagano Prefecture has compiled a summary of her reasons for giving up Japanese citizenship and choosing Canada.
According to the newspaper, due to her strong desire to compete in the Olympics, she chose Canadian citizenship, believing she had a better chance of representing Canada than by fighting through the tough competition to become a representative in Japan.
However, she felt a sense of gratitude to the All Japan Judo Federation for designating her as a training athlete, and so naturally she had some conflicts about giving up her Japanese citizenship.
She visited the All Japan Judo Federation with the university’s general coach, Nishida Takahiro (67), to decline the special training designation. Coach Nishida explained the situation. “At the end, Deguchi was asked to say something, but she was unable to speak. After a moment of silence, tears began to flow. ‘I’m grateful that they’ve designated me as a special training athlete up until now. I’m worried about no longer being Japanese. I guess all my feelings are overflowing,’” said Nishida. (Digital edition of the paper on August 2nd)
In addition, on social media, there was criticism of her decision to become a Canadian. She was worried that some people might think she had betrayed the people who had raised her to represent Japan. She was also scared of being left out of the Japan national team.
However, once she arrived in Canada, she was able to maintain high motivation amid the positive atmosphere of the Canadian national team.
Thus, she was selected to represent Canada in the Olympics, and won the gold medal in the 57 kg weight class. Although she was representing Canada, her hometown of Shiojiri came out to support her, and a public viewing venue was set up at the Shiojiri Cultural Center, where citizens and judo fans flocked to watch.
At the city hall, a banner was hung side by side, saying “Congratulations to Christa Deguchi for her gold medal,” and a banner celebrating Deguchi’s sister, Kelly Deguchi, who competed as a member of the Canadian national team in the 52 kg class. In addition, the momentum for celebration is building for Deguchi, who is a local athlete regardless of nationality, so much so that a victory parade including Deguchi is also being considered.
Identity confusion
Deguchi’s opponent in the final was South Korean representative Huh Mi-mi. According to the Korean newspaper JoongAng Shinbo and the news agency Yonhap News, Huh, a fourth-year student at Waseda University, is a third-generation Korean resident of Japan born in 2002 to a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and learned judo in Japan from an early age.
However, in accordance with her grandmother’s wishes, which wanted her to represent South Korea and compete in the Olympics, she renounced her Japanese citizenship in 2021, continued her career as an athlete in South Korea, and competed in this year’s Olympics as a representative of South Korea.
An article in the Japanese edition of the JoongAng Ilbo (August 5th) described Huh’s feelings of being torn between Japan and South Korea as follows:
“It wasn’t easy to leave Japan, where I was born and raised for 20 years, and adapt to Korea.” She added, “There were times when I was confused about my identity, whether I was Korean or Japanese, but fortunately I was able to adapt well thanks to women’s national team coach Kim Mi-jung, my team coach Kim Jeong-hoon, and my senior members of the national team, who accepted me without prejudice.”
Huh’s ancestor, Heo Seok, was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese police for writing an anti-Japanese manifesto when Korea was a Japanese colony. He was later honored by the Korean government for his achievements. It has been reported that after the battle, Heo visited her grandfather’s stone monument to report her medal win.
With these backgrounds in mind, some Japanese media reported that the match between Deguchi and Huh was “a showdown between foreign players with roots in Japan” (Nihon Keizai Shimbun).
In the women’s 57 kg judo competition, Japan’s Haruka Funakubo and France’s Sarah-Léonie Szyk won bronze medals, meaning that three of the four podium finishers have ties to Japan.
“Japanese descent,” “Japanese mother,” “Japanese people”?
A rare Olympic event was seen on the podium of the women’s park skateboarding event, where the gold, silver and bronze medals were all won by athletes with ties to Japan. Japan’s Hiraki Cocona won the silver medal in this event, but Australia’s Arisa Trew, who won the gold medal, has an Australian father and a Japanese mother. She grew up in Australia, but her name is written in kanji as “Airisa.” Great Britain’s Sky Brown, who won the bronze medal, has a British father and a Japanese mother. She spent her elementary and junior high school years in Takanabe Town, Miyazaki Prefecture.
The Japanese media has reported on the achievements of these three people in relation to Japan, but it is interesting to note that the way they are presented, including in the headlines, reveals the hard work and thought that went into each of them.
For example, Nikkan Sports reported, “Three people with Japanese roots dominate the podium: Gold medalist Trew and bronze medalist Brown both have Japanese mothers.” Other reports include, “‘Japanese’ dominates the skateboarding podium: Japan, Australia and England representatives share roots” (Kyodo News), “‘Japanese mothers are strong’: the ‘commonalities’ of three skaters on the podium in women’s park skateboarding” (Mainichi Shimbun), “Kaisinna, of course, and both the ‘gold’ and ‘bronze’ medalists have Japanese mothers...Bronze medalist Brown: ‘I can’t believe there are so many Japanese people’” (Yomiuri Shimbun Online).
Kyodo News’ use of the term “Japanese forces” may be seen as a self-serving expression unique to Japanese media aimed at attracting readers’ attention, but it should probably be taken to mean “friends with ties to Japan” regardless of their nationality.
What the Nikkan, Mainichi and Yomiuri have in common is that they emphasize that “the mother is Japanese.” “Japanese mothers are strong” is a very apt expression. In addition, it is an expression unique to Japanese media that aims to tickle the hearts of Japanese readers.
Some may criticize that reporting on the sport in terms of its ties to “Japan” is too national and ethnically focused. However, if we look at it from another perspective, the fact that so many athletes with ties to Japan are doing well internationally also means that in this globalized age, Japanese athletes with diverse roots are doing well.
This also applies to athletes from other countries, and there are probably many athletes of various “ethnicities” all over the world today. And just as Shiojiri City is proud of its hometown and supports Christa Deguchi, who is now “Canadian,” it can be said that the movement to celebrate the achievements of athletes beyond national boundaries is spreading naturally.
© 2024 Ryusuke Kawai
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