[inuzuki8605]

The literal meaning of the word "gaijin" which is the short way of saying "gaikokujin" when broken down in translation is "gai" using the kanji the represents the word outside and "jin" using the kanji that represents the world for person or people. So actually the Americans aren't wrong in their belief the word means "foreigner" or "outside person". I believe that it is the say this word is used, the context or the intent of the person using the word.

Personally, me and the foreigners (not just Americans) I was with in Japan didn't have a problem with the word. We called ourselves and each other "gaijin" and no one got offended. The ill-intent of the world, or even the possibility of that, had never even been brought up.

Fact of the matter is a foreigner in Japan will never be Japanese, just like a foreigner in China with never be Chinese or a foreigner in Korean or India will never belong to those countries. It's not like America where it is a melting pot of colors or cultures from which we have built our society. They are people not of that land trying to mesh. It's not going to happen easily, do simply to the fact we don't look the same, but i don't see this as a negative out look on Japan itself or any other country that I just named. Japanese is one of the last countries, besides North Korea and some other countries I'm sure I don't know about, to open themselves up to the outside world and they have less hatred in their hearts than some Americans I know. I think they are progressing nicely from were they came from and quickly as well.

Like I said before, it was only in Japan were I only felt like an American, not a black American or an African American (Funny, I don’t even know what generation I am) or anything else that could be potentially hurtful. I was an American and there were no attachments connected to who they thought I would be or should be. I made my own impression and that's what they saw when they looked at me and interacted with me. With such hated and ignorance in my own Mother Country, Japan is a breath of fresh air to say the least. This isn’t to say that I won’t encounter similar problems in Japan, I’m sure I will, but the reasoning will be much more understandable to me and thus more tolerable. ( I’m speaking for myself only.)