What difference should it matter where the word originated? Surely anything that can carry a racist connotation can be racist regardless of it's history?

I'm not dead set on this being racist (until my g/f said she didn't like it, I used to use the word) but nobody can give a convincing arguement why it is NOT racist other than 'yeah, it just means you are not Japanese' which doesn't really prove it either way

Dunno if that was directed at me. If such was the case then you misunderstood me. They can hate the word, but I feel that it would be wrong that a japanese person goes around and feels bad and offended by a word directed solely at foreigners (whom mostly doesn't care).

It's like white people going around bitching about how bad they feel when they hear the n-word, although it's admirable that they care and have a sense of what's right and wrong; they (we) don't _really_ get personally affected. So stop the terms that discriminate people, but dont get all high and mighty and speak about how "offended" you personally are.

Any black men/women here? I'm just curious as to how you percieve a white man/woman talking about how offended they are when they hear words discriminating black people?

Also, as this thread indicates...

..."gaijins" don't really care. So save the drama.

How is it racist when it's not directed at a race?

ok, you need some help so here we go:

rac·ism Audio Help /ˈreɪsɪzəm/
–noun 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.


It doesn't need to be aimed at a single race to be racist

Well i will still write a little question in here.
I have got a T-shirt saying "Baka Gaijin" in Kanji (and there is a small translation saying "Stupid foreigner" underneath).
do you think i can wear that in Japan? Because i actually thought that people might find it funny. But i dont want to be offending or anything, so what do you think? Of course i wont wear it if im working or meeting older Japanese, but is it ok to wear it in the evenings, karaoke, or stuff?

Firebird

I do not think Japanese are racist, I just think they are xenophobic. That's different from being racist, because racism is the belief that some races are superior/inferior to others. The Japanese are just not used to or qualified to help foreigners, because they are not so many foreigners in Japan at the moment, and because they are worried that foreigners would speak to them in something not in Japanese, and they won't know how to help them. Also note that very few Japanese can speak English (or any other language besides Japanese).
I personally don't like the word "gaijin" because it literally translates as "outsider", calling a foreign person an ousider to me sounds quite harsh. When I went to Japan last year I used the word "gaijin" to describe myself sometimes, but I still find (and have found) that word politically incorrect. If a Japanese called me a "gaijin", I would be quite offended.

Because Jap is a derogatory term. There is no time that is isn't derogatory.

Bastard is also a derogatory term. There is no time nice way to use it in a sentence and not offend the target.

Gaijin is not a derogatory term. It can be used in a derogatory way, of course, just as words like "bald", "short", "black" and any other adjectives can be. The fact that it also has neutral connotations means that it is in a different catagory from "Jap".

From wiki: The official three-letter and two-letter international country codes (ISO 3166) for Japan are JPN and JP, while the international language codes (ISO 639) for Japanese are jpn and ja (not jp).




It's not a double standard, that's just the way language is. Of course different countries and different people treat different words differently, but I am just to my American ears, Jap is a term soaked in so much anti-Japanese sentiment, it cannot be anything other than derogatory. "gaijin" doesn't have that problem.

I wouldn't wear that t-shirt in Japan not because I would worry about offending someone. I wouldn't wear it because it will make you look like an idiot.

Did you just step off of a time machine from 1925. Things have changed a little over the last 70 years or so.

So I wonder how the millions of non-Japanese speaking tourists are able to function. How can such a backwards land host things like the Olympics and World Cup championships? Mind-boggling.

Literally translate "sensei" (teacher) and it means "born before". Literally translate "beikoku" (USA) and it means "rice country". Literally translate "gaijin" foreigner and it means "outside person". Literally translate the English word "foreigner" and it means..."outside person".

But in practical use when people say "sensei" they aren't thinking "born before", when they talk about America they aren't thinking "rice country" and when they talk about "gaijin" they aren't thinking "outside person". So there isn't much use worrying about literal translations, but what people really mean.

What he said

Oh come on, that UN report about racism in Japan was released less than 5 years ago - you can't pretend it doesn't exist out here and brush off any suggestion as being a 'living in the past' comment.

(Just to be clear before any idiots jump on me... that is NOT my opinion, but the opinion of THE UNITED NATIONS.)



Interestingly enough, it looks as though the topic of racism may cost Tokyo in the 2016 olympic bid... rumour has it that the IOC are not impressed by Ishihara and his random outbursts such as "Chinese people are born with criminal dna" and the infamous rant about why French should not be a language (and before you ask, I have friends in the TMG who are working towards the olympics bid)


Now I know this has somehow gone from a post about negative uses of the word gaijin, to a post about racism in general but it seems the 2 may have to go hand in hand

No need to try your hardest to be patronizing.

Ofcourse racism is a belief that certain races are superiour.

But I didn't get the vibe that a japanese person expresses the superiority of their race by calling them "foreigner" in a short form.

Anyways I'm done with this thread, too much of a hassle. Tell your gf and any japanese people you can find to lighten up and not be offended by a term not directed at them. That's this gaijins two cents.

Over weighted
 

I think most Japanese use the word not in a negative sense but rather as a way to say foreigner. it is mostly just because it is easier then saying gaikoujin. They are lazy and like to make things as short as possible.

Now don’t get me wrong I am not defending the fact that it is a negative word, I am just say that I think this is the main reason it is used so freely. I also don’t think it is always meant to be negative even though it can be some times

In my experience they only times I have ever heard a Japanese person get offended by another Japanese person using the word is if they were first told by a foreigner that the word is offensive.

And to respond to an earlier post I am offended sometimes by being called a foreigner. I cant imagine back in my county calling every one who had immigrated to their faces “foreigner.” At least gaijin is offensive in a different language.:mad:

I'm not sure where you're from, but if you're from the US, it'd be screwed to say that anyway, since the US is literally an immigrant country. Everyone in the US is descended from immigrants of multiple countries and backgrounds. The US is a hodgepodge of different cultures, which is why referring to someone as a foreigner or "outsider of the country" would be kind of odd, when that's this country's (somewhat) function. Japan technically isn't (it is a homogenus society, after all), which is why it's easier to quickly identify someone who is more than likely not from the country or those who more than likely don't have roots there as a foreigner.

As a foreigner to the country, if I ever manage to go, it doesn't really offend me much at all. It's just a way of saying foreigner. I've even joked about it in front of my Japanese teacher, and she never once seemed offended by it. Usually, if we say something, she would correct us by saying, "The Japanese wouldn't say that." or "The Japanese wouldn't usually do that." With our talking about Gaijin openly, she's never once said that it was meant to be offensive towards those not from the country. The only way I would feel offended, is if I were over there, and coworkers or those I associate with, as opposed to calling me by name, would call me "Gaijin" all the time. To me, that would come across as condescending. To me, that's like someone constantly calling you, "That lady." or "Hey you.". People I don't know (like someone mentioned with the kids who see him/her on the street walking or whatever), or who don't know me, I know I wouldn't (that's just my personality). I would also be offended if I'm denied a right due to my being a foreigner, but that goes without saying, regardless of the country of residence.

If you go to Japan and aren't Japanese you are a gaijin. Either embrace it and enjoy yourself or spend the whole time looking over your shoulder, being offended by people who don't give two hoots about what you are doing in Japan.

I’ll start off by stating that I’m not Japanese (far from it actually).

Absolutely a valid correlation! And very well put.

LOL You must be Semprini. I'll make sure you get banned again.