05 Is "gaijin" a derogatory word? (sci.lang.japan TT topics)
Description
This article is from the Japanese FAQ, by TANAKA Tomoyuki tanaka@cs.indiana.edu and Olaf Meeuwissen olaf@IMSL.shinshu-u.ac.jp with numerous contributions by others.
05 Is "gaijin" a derogatory word? (sci.lang.japan TT topics)
(this is a FAQ in < sci.lang.japan> .)
the short answer is NO.
"gaijin" is as derogatory as "foreigner" in American English.
(note that many US universities today avoid "foreign
student" and use "international student".)
white Americans who complain about the word "gaijin"
unreasonably vocally
(1) are ignorant of the Japanese language, and
(2) have racial prejudice toward the Japanese.
from Olaf's old < s.l.j> FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/japan/language
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Subject: Q2.11 Is "gaijin" a derogatory word?
In and of itself "gaijin" can hardly be said to be a derogatory
word. Most people and dictionaries will tell you it is just
short for "gaikokujin", means `foreigner' or `alien' and can be
contrasted with "houjin" (Japanese person). Any negative conno-
tations that come with the word are the results of gross general-
ization, lack of information, (hyper)sensitivity, and the like.
Whether these negative associations are implied, depends on con-
text.
Kids playing in the street exclaiming "Ah, gaijin da!" are gen-
erally just surprised at the sight of a foreigner. Real estate
agents using "Gaijin wa dame!" are pigeon-holing all obvious
foreigners into a group of potentially troublesome customers
they'd rather not have.
[ed.: I think most of the fuss around the word is caused by
overly PC-sensitive types not comfortable with the idea of (sud-
denly) being part of a rather conspicuous minority.]
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http://www.faqs.org/faqs/japan/faq/part1/section-18.html
soc.culture.japan FAQ [Monthly Posting]
(3.5.2) Is "Gaijin" a derogatory term?
This issue crops up occasionally as a heated debate in this newsgroup.
Gaijin is a contraction of the word gaikokujin, and literally
means "foreigner". The Japanese language has several cases of
using "gai" (outside) with a noun to indicate one of < noun> from
another country. Gaisha for foreign cars, gaijin for foreign
people, gaika for foreign currencies.
Some people are deeply offended by the word, saying that "gaijin"
refers to outsiders rife with undesirable characteristics. There
is no doubt that is one meaning of the word.
"Gaijin" is also used in many cases where it is probably not
intended as a negative statement. Consider that it is common in
the Japanese language to address people whose names are not
known, or even if names are known, by titles: omawari san, Mr.
Policeman; sushiya san, Mr. Sushi Shop. It is not unusual for a
Japanese speaker to call a non Japanese who is otherwise not
known, "gaijin san".
It should be noted that:
The language also has much stronger words for cases where a
speaker wants to discriminate or insult.
and
Non-Asian foreigners _will_ be called "gaijin" by many Japanese.
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