Is 'Gaijin' a Bad Word? (Japanese Street Interview)

[yuiyoshida]

[Ligyron]

1. You always come up with the coolest stuff!

[angstlessk]

2. I appreciate how you have brought Japan here...

I must say my only knowledge before your posts was Okinawa...

You have honestly brought Japan to my eyes...and I am sure many others.

I've enjoyed many of your posts.

[yuiyoshida]

3. Not just Japan...but Asia too

I am most familiar with Japan but I try to bring other Asian Countries here too so people will not make stereo types of Asian people and learn our culture.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Seems to be similar to our (Jewish) use of the word "goy".

It isn't really discriminatory, but it can be, and some people do see it as being used to say "everyone who isn't a Jew", which makes it synonymous with "gentile."

Thanks for this. I thought "gaijin" was a derogatory word. Now, I know it is complex and as nuanced as the word "goy."

What are your thoughts about the word and its use? Do you think there may be a difference in use from Japanese people from Japan and Japanese people (and those of Japanese descent) who live elsewhere?

[yuiyoshida]

5. It wouldn't apply to people of Japanese descent who live elsewhere

like in America. Mostly because the word is used in Japan only. A Japanese American might use the term "foreigner" but not as much as that term would be used in Asia.

By the way, being called A Baka-Gaijin would be considered bad, in Japan. It means "ignorant foreigner" and considered an insult. The use of the word "baka" is pretty extreme in Japan, and as bad as any swear word used anywhere else. It is used in Anime, but language tends to be more racy in Anime than in regular polite society. For people going to Japan, who have learned Japanese, via watching Anime, they are bound to be in for a shock, because that language is not tolerated in Japan, even by a Ignorant Foreigner. One could end up with a black eye or bloody nose for calling someone a Baka... (or Baka Yaro, or Baka tare). That is why it is good to take a formal class in "Nihongo" so as to not make those kind of painful mistakes.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Thanks for the info.

Oddly enough, I knew the word baka was a bad word in Japanese, considered one of the "big ones", though the Japanese don't really seem to have many "curse" words. This is probably wrong, but it was what I read, years ago, the word "baka" was to indicate someone was incredibly stupid because s/he couldn't distinguish between the characters for a deer and a horse (?), I don't watch Anime (personally, I don't get it), but majoring in languages in college, I came across many types of comparative linguistics, and "baka" was in one our lessons about slang in other languages and how they are misunderstood/misused by non-native speakers.

I really appreciate the personal insight and the video.

[tblue37]

6. I think it is like the difference between "foreigners" and "people from other countries"

or "international visitors."

At my university we used to refer to "foreign students," and we even had a course called English 1F (which was English 1 for Foreign Students&quot . Now they are called "international students," because it was decided that "foreign students" sounded unfriendly and unwelcoming, perhaps even discriminatory.

I understand why language moves in the direction of euphemism, and when the intention is to increase inclusion and decrease discrimination I certainly applaud it, but sometimes the newly acceptable terms can be rather unwieldy.