japanese word meaning “non-Japanese”, or “alien”. This word is a short form of gaikokujin (外国人), which literally means “person (or people) from outside of the country”. The word is composed of two kanji: gai (外), meaning “outside”; and jin (人), meaning “person”. Thus, the word technically means “outsider”. The word can refer to nationality, race, or ethnicity, but in Japanese these are generally conflated, as the nation is considered by them to be composed of a single ethnic group. Some modern commentators feel that the word is now negative or pejorative in connotation and thus offensive. Other observers indicate that the word can also be used neutrally or positively. One scholar suggests that the term has become politically incorrect and is avoided now by some Japanese television broadcasters. The uncontroversial gaikokujin (外国人), “foreign-country person”, is commonly used instead. The word gaijin is of ancient provenance and was initially not applied to foreigners. It 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 “Assembling arms where there are no gaijin”.
Here, gaijin is used to refer to outsiders and potential enemies. 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. The Noh play, Kurama tengu also has a dialog, where a servant objects to the appearance of a traveling monk: 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. “A gaijin doesn’t belong here, where children from the Genji and Heike families are playing”. Here, gaijin also means an outsider/stranger or an unknown/unfamiliar person.
Historically, the Portuguese, the first Europeans to visit Japan, were known as nanbanjin (literally “southern barbarians”). 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 “red-haired people”, a term still used in Hokkien Chinese today.
When the Tokugawa shogunate was forced to open Japan to foreign contact, Westerners were commonly referred to as ijin “different people”, a shortened form of ikokujin “different country person” or ihōjin “different motherland people”, terms previously used for Japanese from different feudal that is, foreign states. Ketō, literally meaning “hairy Tang”, was and is used as a pejorative for Chinese and Westerners. The word gaikokujin (外国人) is composed of gaikoku (foreign country) and jin (person), so the word literally means “foreign-country person”.
The term was introduced and popularized by the Meiji government (1868–1912), and this gradually replaced ijin, ikokujin and ihōjin. As the empire of Japan extended to Korea and Taiwan, the term naikokujin “inside country people” was used to refer to nationals of other territories of the Empire of Japan. While other terms fell out of use after World War II, gaikokujin remained as the official government term for non-Japanese people. The modern word gaijin is held by some writers to be a simple contraction of gaikokujin.
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, principally Caucasians. However the term is also sometimes applied to ethnic Japanese born and raised in other countries. 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. Japanese speakers commonly refer to non-Japanese people 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.
Historically, some usage of the word “gaijin” referred respectfully to the prestige and wealth of Caucasians or the power of western businesses. This interpretation of the term as positive or neutral in tone continues for some. However, though the term may be used without negative intent by many Japanese speakers, it is seen as derogatory by some and reflective of exclusionary attitudes. “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).
The term is avoided by mainstream Japanese media whenever possible. Now that gaijin has become somewhat politically incorrect, it is common to refer to non-Japanese as gaikokujin. However if the honorific san is attached to the word Gaijin as Gaijin-san, some see it as a friendly expression.
Gaijin also appears frequently in Western literature and pop culture. Foreigners and the English-language media in Japan coined the term “flyjin”, a play on the word gaijin, as a label for the non-Japanese who fled Japan in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Approximately 531,000 non-Japanese residing in Japan departed the country after the disaster.
