A MONTH after her historic win in the World Games (the first Filipina to do so), karateka Junna Tsukii went on Facebook to stress that, despite her Japanese heritage and upbringing, the Philippines remains firmly in her heart.
Even with her Filipino roots — her mom is Pinay, and Tsukii was born here in Pasay — Junna admitted that she would sometimes hear criticism like, “Why didn’t she choose Japan?” or “Why is she even here when she doesn’t even speak Tagalog?”
Some even thought that the only reason she was here was because “she caused some problems in Japan.”
But in a lengthy Facebook post, Tsukii emphatically stressed that she was here out of a sincere love for her mother’s land.
“As most of you know, I was born in the Philippines but raised in Japan for most of my 30 years of life,” she admitted. Tsukii said that she grew up steeped in Japanese culture, and didn’t even learn to speak English until she moved to the Philippines in 2017, to become part of the karate national team. “I was 26 years old at that time.”
She truly felt like a stranger in a strange land then.
“Yes, my English is inadequate because English education in Japan is not as great as in the Philippines. Yes, my face may look Japanese. My Tagalog may be [only] as [good] as a baby[‘s],” continued Tsukii.
“And maybe I am not qualified to wear the Philippine flag on my chest. I once thought so.”
However, she knows this for sure: “[M]y love for the Philippines and karate is true. I decided to believe in myself that I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Junna Tsukii wants to bring honor to the Philippines
She ended her Facebook post with a touching anecdote.
When Tsukii returned to the Philippines in 2017, she was determined to learn the “Lupang Hinirang.” She would play the national anthem over and over again on YouTube and pore over the lyrics, practicing them phonetically. She would call up her mom via video chat to make sure she got it right.
“My biggest dream was to see the Philippine flag at the highest point in the world and sing the national anthem,” she declared. “Is it strange for other people to think so, since I grew up in Japan?”
This is not the first time that she addressed questions about her heritage.
In December 2019, right after her gold in the SEA Games, she also shared the struggles that she faced as a karateka, but said, “I’m proud of myself having both blood of the Filipino and Japanese.”
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