Who is Rina Sawayama? All about the Japan born artist amid her critique of Sabrina Carpenter's creative team post recent SNL gig

Rina Sawayama is a Japanese and British singer-songwriter, actress, and model. Sawayama took to Instagram stories on October 19 to criticize Sabrina Carpenter's recent SNL performance that went viral on the internet. Sabrina took to the SNL stage in a short kimono-style robe and platform heels, while two of her dancers are seen dancing and faux fighting in the background in martial arts outfits while wearing sneakers on tatami mats.

While commenting on the setup, Rina said,

"Big love to Sabrina (red heart emoji) but fellow artists creative teams...if we are clearly referencing a culture please an you do so with the research, respect and care it deserves."

She also added,

"Shoes on tatami is jail."

As per Japanese tradition and customs, shoes and slippers are supposed to be taken off before stepping onto tatami mats not to damage the delicate material. The mats are also often used for praying and cultural rituals and date back to the Jomon and Yayoi periods.

Who is Rina Sawayama?

Rina Sawayama is a British-Japanese musician and actor who was born in Niigata, Japan. Sawayama started her solo music career after graduating from Cambridge University in 2012. She gained the attention of the media and music fans in 2020 when she released her critically acclaimed debut album, SAWAYAMA.

Rina Sawayama grew up in Niigata, Japan, until she turned five, after which her family moved to London, where she was raised. As per the singer, the family initially planned to return to Japan when she turned ten but chose to stay in London.

In 2019, Sawayama released her track STFU!, in which she rages against microaggressions on her ethnic background.

While talking about her reason behind curating the track with NME at the time, Sawayama opened up about a senior record executive who referred to her as "Rina Wagamama,"

"And I'm pretty sure that whoever has unusual surnames in the music industry get taken the p*** out of like that, I mean, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, and maybe worse things have been said about me. But that was just an example of what we can't normalise."

She went on to add,

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"We can't just normalise using Japan or Japanese culture in the way that we've been doing. We don't have any respect for the people whether they're living here or there."

Rina Sawayama also opened up about the record executive's comments going in a dark direction when he suggested that he wanted to write about a "fan fiction piece" from the perspective of "a little Japanese woman."

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