Gaijin

[Unkotare]

Still occasionally run into people who have a problem with this term. They needn't.

 

[Sunni Man]

Isn't it a Japanese derogatory term for foreigners, mainly white people? .....

 

[Unkotare]

Isn't it a Japanese derogatory term for foreigners, mainly white people? .....

Not derogatory.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

Isn't it a Japanese derogatory term for foreigners, mainly white people? .....

Not derogatory.

Nope. Merely indicative of an "outsider", i.e. not Japanese.

I am gaijin, but have always been treated with respect by my Japanese teachers.

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

Still occasionally run into people who have a problem with this term. They needn't.

I have been called:

Gweilo

Bolillo Diablo

Cracker

Casper

Honky

So when someone call me something like a Cracker or the Devil, well I smile and thank them...

 

[ThirdTerm]

Gaijin literally means "outsiders" or "foreign nationals", who could be any nationalities from Americans to Koreans or Chinese. In English, the term "immigrants" is being used in a similar fashion, sometimes pejoratively, but it depends on the context. There was a derogatory term for blacks until a few decades ago but the term was banned in this PC world and it's no longer in use.

In Japanese, the word means, literally, "outside person." It is often used as a contraction of sorts for gaikokujin ("outside-country person"), meaning foreinger. In its contracted form it can be an insult, but in recent years has been watered down by widespread use in and out of Japan. In actual usage, a better definition would be "non-Japanese" since Japanese people will use it in reference to non-Japanese even when they themselves are the foriegners in a country other than Japan.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

Gaijin literally means "outsiders" or "foreign nationals", who could be any nationalities from Americans to Koreans or Chinese. In English, the term "immigrants" is being used in a similar fashion, sometimes pejoratively, but it depends on the context. There was a derogatory term for blacks until a few decades ago but the term was banned in this PC world and it's no longer in use.

You mean "n*gger"? Of course it's still in use. Blacks use it all the time.

 

[ThirdTerm]

Its Japanese translation is "kuronbo", which comes from "kuro" (=black colour) and "bo" (casual suffix meaning young man), but the word completely disappeared from public life. The Japanese are generally respectable towards white foreign nationals ("hakujin" in Japanese) such as Russians but there were racial slurs for the Chinese and Koreans commonly used in the pre-war era. Japanese Americans are also well-received in the country which values blood ties.