Gaijin

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This article is about a Japanese word for "foreigner". For the James Clavell novel, see Gai-Jin (novel).

Gaijin (外人? IPA: [ˈɡaɪʥin]) is a Japanese word meaning "foreigner" or "outsider".[1] The word is composed of gai (外, outside) and jin (人, person), so the word can be translated literally as "outside (foreign) person." The word can refer to nationality, race, or ethnicity. Gaijin is regarded by some as a neutral or positive term, reflecting the status of Caucasian foreigners to which it is frequently applied.[2][3] In recent times, the word has become regarded by some as exclusionary[4] or derogatory[5][6][7] and thus offensive.[8] The term has become politically incorrect and is avoided now by most Japanese television broadcasters.[9]

Contents

[edit] Etymology and history

Gaijin and gaikokujin (外国人?) are Japanese words meaning "foreigner." Gaikokujin (外国人) is composed of gaikoku (外国, foreign country) and jin (人, person), so the word literally means "foreign-country person." The word gaijin was initially not applied to foreigners. It is of ancient provenance and can be traced in writing back to Heike Monogatari, written early in the 13th century:

外人もなき所に兵具をとゝのへ [10]
Assembling arms where there are no gaijin

Here, gaijin is used to refer to outsiders[11][12] and potential enemies.[13] Another early reference is in Renri Hishō (c. 1349) by Nijō Yoshimoto, where it is used to refer to a (Japanese) person who is a stranger, not a friend.[13] Noh, Kurama tengu[14] also has a dialog:

源平両家の童形たちのおのおのござ候ふに、かやうの外人は然るべからず候
Since the children of both Genji and Heike are here, such a gaijin is not appropriate to stay together.

Here, gaijin also means an outsider/stranger or an unknown/unfamiliar person.[15]

Historically, the Portuguese, the first Europeans to visit Japan, were known as nanbanjin (ja:南蛮人, "southern barbarians")[16]. When British and Dutch adventurers such as William Adams arrived in Japan fifty years later in the early 17th century, they were usually known as kōmōjin (ja:紅毛人, "red-haired people"), a term still used in the Min Nan (Taiwanese) dialect of Chinese today.

When the Tokugawa shogunate was forced to open Japan to foreign contact, Westerners were commonly referred to as ijin (ja:異人, "different people"), a shortened form of ikokujin (ja:異国人, "different country people") or ihōjin (ja:異邦人, "different motherland people"), terms previously used for Japanese from different feudal (that is, foreign) states.[citation needed] Keto (ja:毛唐), literally meaning "hairy Tang", was (and is) used as a pejorative for Chinese and Westerners.[17]

The word gaikokujin was only introduced and popularized by the Meiji government who united the feudal states in Japan as one nation, and this gradually replaced ijin, ikokujin and ihōjin. As the empire of Japan extended to Korea and Taiwan, the term naikokujin (ja:内国人, "inside country people") was used to refer to nationals of other territories of the Empire.[citation needed] While other terms fell out of use after World War II, gaikokujin remained as the official government term for non-Japanese people.

[edit] Usage

Foreigners in Japan in 2000 by citizenship.Source:Japan Statistics Bureau
Foreigners in Japan in 2000 by citizenship.
Source:Japan Statistics Bureau[18]

While all forms of the word mean "foreigner" or "outsider", in practice gaikokujin and gaijin are commonly used to refer to racially non-Japanese groups,[19] principally Caucasians.[20][21][22][23][24][2] However the term is also applied to ethnic Japanese born and raised in other countries.[25][26] Gaijin is also commonly used within Japanese professional wrestling to collectively refer to the visiting performers from the west who will frequently tour the country.[citation needed]

Japanese speakers commonly refer to non-Japanese as gaijin even while they are overseas. Also, people of Japanese descent native to other countries (especially those countries with large Japanese communities) might also call non-descendants gaijin, as a counterpart to nikkei.[25]

Historically, the word "gaijin" was a positive term, reflecting the high status, prestige and wealth of Caucasians.[27][28][29] This interpretation of the term as positive or neutral in tone continues for some.[2][3][8][30][31] However, though the term may be used without negative intent by many Japanese speakers,[4] it is seen as derogatory by some[32][33][34] and reflective of exclusionary attitudes.[4][23][35][9][30]

"While the term itself has no derogatory meaning, it emphasizes the exclusiveness of Japanese attitude and has therefore picked up pejorative connotations that many Westerners resent." Mayumi Itoh (1995)[8]

The term is avoided by mainstream Japanese media whenever possible.[9][36] Now that gaijin has become somewhat politically incorrect, it is common to refer to non-Japanese as gaikokujin.[23][36]

The term gaijin is also used as a form of address in some situations, in which case it is commonly combined with the routine honorific -san, roughly translated as "Mr" or "Ms." Gaijin-san may also be used as a more polite alternative to gaijin or gaikokujin.

Gaijin also appears frequently in Western literature and pop culture. It forms the title of such novels as Marc Olden's Gaijin (New York: Arbor House, 1986), James Melville's Go gently, gaijin (New York : St. Martin's Press, 1986), James Kirkup's Gaijin on the Ginza (London: Chester Springs, 1991) and James Clavell's Gai-Jin (New York: Delacorte Press, 1993), as well as a song by Nick Lowe. It is the title of feature films such as Tizuka Yamazaki's Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade (1980) and Gaijin - Ama-me Como Sou (2005), as well as animation shorts such as Fumi Inoue's Gaijin (2003). It is a recurring word in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), where it is used to refer to both the main character, an American, and his love interest.

[edit] Foreign residents in Japan

Main article: Demography of Japan#Foreign residents

[edit] References

  1. ^ "がい‐じん〔グワイ‐〕【外人】(translation: Gaijin)". Daijisen. (2006). Sanseido/Yahoo! Japan. Retrieved on 2008-02-20. “1 外国人。特に、欧米人をいう。2 仲間以外の人。他人。 (translation: 1. Foreigner, especially European or American. 2. Outsider)” 
  2. ^ a b c Befu, Harumi (2001). Hegemony of Homogeneity: An Anthropological Analysis of Nihonjinron. Trans Pacific Press, 76. ISBN 1876843055. 
  3. ^ a b Kitahara, Michio (1989). Children of the Sun: the Japanese and the Outside World. Sandgate, Folkestone, England: Paul Norbury Publications, p.117. "For example, gaijin literally means a "person from outside," namely a foreigner, and that means "Caucasian." To describe a Japanese in this manner is a compliment to him or her. To be "similar to a foreigner" (gaijin-no youna) means to be similar to a westerner, and this too, is a compliment."
  4. ^ a b c Wetherall, William (1983), “Foreigners in Japan”, Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, vol. 2, Tokyo: Kodansha, pp. 313-4, <http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/yosha/minorities/Foreigners_in_Japan.html> 
  5. ^ De Mente, Boye Lafayette (1994), Japanese Etiquette & Ethics In Business, McGraw-Hill Professional, pp. 159, ISBN 0844285307, <http://books.google.ca/books?id=r6obHAmRKesC&pg=PA159&dq=Gaijin+superior&lr=&sig=R1BIrB0WgVebnPLHbAov338lx6A> 
  6. ^ Hsu, Robert, The MIT Encyclopedia of the Japanese Economy, MIT Press, pp. 195, ISBN 0844285307, <http://books.google.com/books?id=0RS0CGUaef8C&pg=PA195&lpg=PA195&dq=gaijin+derogatory&source=web&ots=sP3I1XewPk&sig=eGmSGURurXMqRfBZRrzb9u-0OmU> 
  7. ^ Wetherall, William & de Vos, George A, “Ethnic Minorities in Japan”, in Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan & Crum Ewing, Winifred, Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey, Stichting Plurale, 1976, pp. 384, ISBN ISBN 9024717795 
  8. ^ a b c Itoh, Mayumi (Summer 1996). "Japan's abiding sakoku mentality - seclusion from other countries - Economic Myths Explained". Orbis 40 (3). Foreign Policy Research Institute / JAI Press Inc.. 
  9. ^ a b c Gottlieb, Nanette (2005), Language and Society in Japan, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117-8, ISBN 9780521532846  "Gaikokujin is uncontroversial and simply means a person who does not hold Japanese citizenship; it is the more common contracted version that has been the subject of irritated complaint: people may be pointed at by children and have the word gaijin either shouted or whispered though this is much less common in Japan today than it was thirty years ago. At a deeper level, though, it is the connotation of exclusion and oddity that irks, particularly when the term is combined with the adjective hen na to mean 'peculiar foreigner,' a term once often heard on Japanese television shows. The term gaijin itself is included these days by most broadcasters on their list of terms best avoided"
  10. ^ 高木, 市之助; 小沢正夫, 渥美かをる, 金田一春彦 (1959). 日本古典文学大系: 平家物語 (in Japanese). 岩波書店, 123. ISBN 4-00-060032-X. 
  11. ^ A. Matsumura (ed.), Daijirin (大辞林), (p. 397, 9th ed., vol. 1). (1989). Tokyo: Sanseido. "がいじん【外人】②　そのことに関係のない人。第三者。「外人もなき所に兵具をととのへ／平家一」"
  12. ^ A. Matsumura (ed.), Daijisen (大辞泉), (p. 437, 1st ed., vol. 1). (1998). Tokyo: Shogakukan. "がいじん。【外人】②　仲間以外の人。他人。「外人もなき所に兵具をととのへ」〈平家・一〉"
  13. ^ a b "外人". Kōjien (5). (1998). Iwanami. ISBN 4000801112. “がいじん【外人】①　仲間以外の人。疎遠の人。連理秘抄「外人など上手多からむ座にては」②　敵視すべきな人。平家一「外人もなき所に兵具をととのへ」” 
  14. ^ (Japanese) 鞍馬天狗, Ohtsuki Noh Theatre. See also List of Noh plays: A-M.
  15. ^ M. Yamaguchi et al. (eds.), Shinkango jiten (新漢語辞典), (p. 282, 2nd ed., vol. 1). (2000). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Publishing. "【外人】②　局外者。他人。「源平両家の童形たちのおのおのござ候ふに、かやうの外人は然るべからず候」 "
  16. ^ WWWJDIC (edict) entry for 南蛮人, [1]
  17. ^ "毛唐人". Kōjien (5). (1998). Iwanami. ISBN 4000801112. 
  18. ^ Japan Statistics Bureau, accessed 8 December 2007
  19. ^ Lee, Soo im (2006). Japan's Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship, and Education. iUniverse, 102. ISBN 0595362575. 
  20. ^ Reischauer, Edwin O. (1981). Japan: the Story of a Nation. Alfred A. Knopf, 255. 
  21. ^ Wilkinson, Endymion (1980). Japan versus Europe: a History of Misunderstanding. London: Penguin Books, 126. 
  22. ^ Koshiro, Yukiko (1999). Trans-Pacific Racisms and the U.S. Occupation of Japan. Columbia University Press, 254. ISBN 023111348X. 
  23. ^ a b c Lie, John (1999). Multiethnic Japan. Harvard University Press, 20. ISBN 0674013581. 
  24. ^ Creighton, Millie (1997), “Soto Others and Uchi Others: Imaging racial diversity, imagining homogeneous Japan”, in Weiner, Michael, Japan's Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity, Routledge, pp. 212, ISBN 0415130085 
  25. ^ a b Tsuda, Takeyuki (2003). Strangers in the Ethnic Homeland: Japanese Brazilian Return. Columbia University Press. ISBN 023112838X. 
  26. ^ Koshiro, Yukiko (1999). Trans-Pacific Racisms and the U.S. Occupation of Japan. Columbia University Press, 254. ISBN 023111348X. 
  27. ^ Lie, John (2000), “The Discourse of Japaneseness”, in Douglass,, Mike & Roberts, Glenda Susan, Japan and Global Migration: Foreign Workers and the advent of a multicultural society, Routledge, pp. 75, ISBN 0415191106 
  28. ^ Suzuki, Jiro & Sakamoto, Mickey, “Discrimination against foreigners of Japanese descent in Japan”, in Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan & Crum Ewing, Winifred, Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey, Stichting Plurale, 1976, pp. 274, ISBN ISBN 9024717795 
  29. ^ Meredith Stuart, Paul (1987). Nihonsense. Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd., 3-5. "Not all foreigners are gaijin to Japanese and quite a few natives of Japan are gaijin. There is a logic to this mess, but it is hardly logical. It is true that 'American' (Amerikajin) is a synonym for gaijin for many Japanese. At one time, at least when the U.S. auto industry was undisputed leader of world autodom, the term connoted awe and respect."
  30. ^ a b Thomas Dillon, "Born and raised a 'gaijin', Japan Times, December 24, 2005
  31. ^ Wada, Minoru (20 June 1994). "Education behind the scenes". The Daily Yomiuri: 9. 
  32. ^ De Mente, Boye Lafayette (1994), Japanese Etiquette & Ethics In Business, McGraw-Hill Professional, pp. 159, ISBN 0844285307, <http://books.google.ca/books?id=r6obHAmRKesC&pg=PA159&dq=Gaijin+superior&lr=&sig=R1BIrB0WgVebnPLHbAov338lx6A> 
  33. ^ Hsu, Robert, The MIT Encyclopedia of the Japanese Economy, MIT Press, pp. 195, ISBN 0844285307, <http://books.google.com/books?id=0RS0CGUaef8C&pg=PA195&lpg=PA195&dq=gaijin+derogatory&source=web&ots=sP3I1XewPk&sig=eGmSGURurXMqRfBZRrzb9u-0OmU> 
  34. ^ Wetherall, William & de Vos, George A, “Ethnic Minorities in Japan”, in Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan & Crum Ewing, Winifred, Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey, Stichting Plurale, 1976, pp. 384, ISBN ISBN 9024717795 
  35. ^ Sugihara, Kaoru; Allan, John Anthony (1993). Japan in the Contemporary Middle East. Routledge, 150. ISBN 0415075211. 
  36. ^ a b Whiting, Robert (2004), The Meaning of Ichiro, Warner Books, pp. 152, ISBN 0446531928, <http://books.google.ca/books?id=9X3Pw_gKqPQC&pg=PA152&dq=gaijin+second+world+war&sig=Awimkc-3tMbmjFqEvHNn9LRABxw> 

[edit] See also

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