Do you think the word "gaijin" is discriminatory?

[ultragaijin]

I just came across this discussion from December on JT:

GAIJIN (http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=popvox&id=187&display=all)

[J Ksy]

Please, for the love of God, let's not start that discussion....
I've been in too many, with too many different people on too many forums. As one guy put it "the discussion is older than God and equally as dead". :)

[Harvey]

God is dead! And no one cares! If there is a hell, I'll see you there! -NIN

[ultragaijin]

Please, for the love of God, let's not start that discussion....
I've been in too many, with too many different people on too many forums. As one guy put it "the discussion is older than God and equally as dead". :)

Well, maybe we can have a rousing discussion on why we shouldn't discuss it.

Anyway, if you read the full discussion in that link, you'll see they've already covered a pretty good range of different opinions.

[kamome]

Please, for the love of God, let's not start that discussion....

So what if it's been dealt with on other forums? It hasn't been discussed here yet. I think this site's members should talk about anything relevant to their experience in Japan. Anyway.....

The point I agree with, which was a theme in the JT thread, is that the word gaijin itself is not the problem. It's the word plus the context that indicates whether it's reasonable to take offense. So, the waiter at an izakaya who shouts out "get a table for the 4 gaijin" is using the word offensively since their status as gaijin has nothing to do with being restaurant patrons. On the other hand, most people would agree that separating "gaijin" from Japanese at the passport control line at Narita airport is a reasonable, non-offensive use of the word.

Unfortunately, I find that the word is used more in an unwittingly offensive way. I think the term "hen na gaijin" when used to refer to a gaijin who speaks good Japanese or can sing enka at karaoke is pretty offensive. We probably wouldn't call a Japanese "strange foreigner" in the opposite context.

Interestingly (or tellingly) I sometimes call my English-speaking Japanese friends "gaijin" in jest to turn the word on its ear--and even the most liberal of them are mortified to have that term applied to them. So I think Japanese innately know that gaijin has an exclusionary intent behind the word even in the most innocuous of situations. That would explain why bilingual Japanese hate the term themselves (although the other explanation could be that their bilingualism has given them their own cultural identity crisis).

[cstaylor]

I guess I haven't been here long enough for it to bother me. Of course, I never plan on fitting in anyways. :wink:

[ultragaijin]

Well, if this guy calls his own kids "gaijin" (http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/showthread.php?t=419), it can't be that bad.

[Crispy]

Never bothered me. Neither does being called a cracker. Me and my friends call each other these all the time.