Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka became the first tennis player from Japan to win a Grand Slam singles tournament when she defeated Serena Williams in the final of the 2018 US Open. The New York Times‘s Motoko Rich writes about how Naomi’s victory is pushing Japan to redefine what it means to be Japanese:

In becoming the first Japanese-born tennis player to win a Grand Slam championship, Ms. Osaka, 20, is helping to challenge Japan’s longstanding sense of racial purity and cultural identity.

Her emergence comes at a time when Japan is also grappling with a declining population, a looming demographic crisis that has prompted the country to open its doors slightly to accommodate an increase in foreign residents and descendants of Japanese immigrants who want to return to Japan.