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Radouane – Shibuya Tokyo
Gaijin, here is one of the first words you might hear on arriving in Japan. You will not hear it at the airport or in administration, but in the streets or in some conversations. But what Gaijin meaning?
If you hear the word Gaijin, do not be surprised in any way, it may be that we talk about you. I mean it may be, this is not guarantee. Gaijin, what is it? Who is it?
Gaijin (it’s written外人 in Japanese kanji) simply means “outside person”. There is an other form for the word Gaijin and it is Gaikokujin (which is written 外国人 in Japanese kanji) and whose meaning is “person from an other country”.
It’s good to know that the word Gaijin can be used for all persons whose skin color is pink or white and the word Gaikokujin will be used for all persons not belonging to the Japanese ethnic.
For some people, the word Gaijin has a pejorative connotation. Some do not like it and not like that they are called so. However, the use of the word tends to trivialize and loses its pejorative sense. It’s like the words “beurre” (means Butter in French) to refer to people of Arabic descent or “nigger” in English to refer to people of African origin.
Overall, the Japanese will avoid using the word Gaijin in front of foreigners in order to not offend them. And yes, our Japanese friends are very polite, friendly and do not want to offend anyone.
In the end, the words Gaijin and Gaikokujin are terms that can be perceived as discriminatory, but it should not be take in a derogatory many. Those two words tend to lose their negative connotation and that’s good as well. And then we can not do nothing more, we are like we are and we must respect the cultures we visit.
