Osaka Mix

 

A mixture of steamed and fried ingredients including pork, chicken, fish or vegetables, Okonomiyaki is an essential dish from Osaka. The Okonomiyaki in Osaka differs from the one made in Hiroshima. The former is softer and has less cabbage while the latter is crunchier and has more cabbage. The difference in the recipe is also reflected on the way the dish is pronounced: the Osaka version is called Okonomiyaki, while the Hiroshima version is called Okumaiko.

As a mixed-race person in the world of sports, Osaka had to reclaim her dual identities and stand up for them both on and off the court. She has been a vocal advocate for Asian and Caribbean communities, particularly as a woman of color in a sport that, as her idols Williams and King would put it, is still overwhelmingly male-dominated and white. Her activism has earned her the ire of racist fans and the scorn of those who see her as a threat to Japan’s national identity (John G. Russell, 2019).

While her tennis career blossomed, Osaka began to find her voice and a space to open up about the deepest matters of her heart. Her first expressions of activism were on social media, particularly concerning police violence and its effects on people of color in the United States. Following the death of 大阪　ミックス George Floyd, a black man killed by Minneapolis police officers in 2021, she tweeted that she was sad to hear about his passing but that she was most upset by the fact that he was not treated fairly (Carayol, 2020).

Her activism was met with mostly positive responses, though there were some critics of her actions. After a Twitter user commented that Martin Luther King would be disappointed in her, Osaka rebuked the commenter for being offensive and addressing her as “you” instead of “you guys” or “you all” (Osaka, 2021).

The documentary Osaka Mix explores Osaka’s journey to becoming a global icon, and it shows how she developed the self-possession to speak up about any issue she felt passionately about. Despite the fact that she was only 20 years old when the film was produced, it is clear that Osaka has a long way to go in her personal and political activism as she becomes even more of a global powerhouse.