Instead of giving Osaka her father's last name, her parents decided their daughters would use their mother's last name. It was a pragmatic solution to living in Japan at a time when Japanese laws were not so welcoming of foreigners.
Osaka grew up in the United States and even had American citizenship, but Leonard and Tamaki decided that their daughters would represent Japan rather than the United States.
In a 2018 The Wall Street Journal interview, Osaka's parents revealed the U.S. Tennis Association had failed to recognize her talent and only wanted to recruit her at 16 years old. By that time, Osaka was already committed to the Japan Tennis Association.
A year later, the tennis ace used her U.S citizenship to represent Japan in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and also to fulfill Japan’s Nationality Act clause where one cannot hold dual citizenship after their 22nd birthday.
No one will be prouder than me when I compete for Japan in the Olympics
