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The word they use is Gaijin. It means foreigner and it is based on race.

by gitfan86 4y ago

dqpb 4y ago
If someone has only one Japanese parent are they Gaijin?
- Pet_Ant 4y ago
  https://youtu.be/dXBsFfnCOks https://youtu.be/dXBsFfnCOks
- bigbigbiga 4y ago
  No, they are called Hafu. Half Japanese.
  - stjohnswarts 4y ago
    Do you know if that is a japanese adoption of "half" or is it based on pure Japanese etymology and just a coincidence it's sounds similar?
    - EE84M3i 4y ago
      It's written using katakana, which denotes that it's a loanword.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - filoleg 4y ago
      That one is a transliteration/adoption, as it is literally just ハ-フ (pronounced as "ha-fu"). The actual word for a half (like in "half a minute") would be 半 (pronounced as "han")
- random1233456 4y ago
  my wife is half japanese,has citizenship and has been called a gaijin so yes. the guy was being an asshole so everyone doesn’t necessarily feel that way. but they kinda do
mortenjorck 4y ago
I’m no linguist or Japanese scholar, but it has long been interesting to me that the full word “gaikokujin” translates to “foreigner” (kanji for “outside,” “country,” “person”), while “gaijin” removes the “country” part, leaving something that could be read more fundamentally as simply “outsider”.
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  Is it like gringo in Spanish or bule in Indonesian?
- dixie_land 4y ago
  this. I think outsider is both a more literal translation, as well as an accurate reflection of the attitude
- timr 4y ago
  Nerds dramatically exaggerate the significance of this. Yes, if you just look at the kanji, "outsider" is possibly the more literal translation, but at the end of the day what matters is what is in people's heads when they use the word, and not the word itself. "Gaijin" gets played up in weeby debates -- by people who are looking for reasons to be offended -- as some hugely significant cultural deviation, but it's honestly more like "foreigner" in practical usage. That word can be incredibly rude, or completely innocuous in different contexts. As can 外人. It's more accurate to say that both words mean "foreigner", but 外国人 is the PC version that renders you safe from criticism. (The irony, of course, is that no matter where you go you'll hear plenty of borderline racist policy talk with the sweetest of language.)
pkaye 4y ago
So maybe the Ninja Gaiden NES game should have been called Ninja Gaijin outside Japan?

The word they use is Gaijin. It means foreigner and it is based on race.

dqpb 4y ago

If someone has only one Japanese parent are they Gaijin?

Pet_Ant 4y ago
https://youtu.be/dXBsFfnCOks https://youtu.be/dXBsFfnCOks
bigbigbiga 4y ago
No, they are called Hafu. Half Japanese.
- stjohnswarts 4y ago
  Do you know if that is a japanese adoption of "half" or is it based on pure Japanese etymology and just a coincidence it's sounds similar?
  - EE84M3i 4y ago
    It's written using katakana, which denotes that it's a loanword.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - filoleg 4y ago
    That one is a transliteration/adoption, as it is literally just ハ-フ (pronounced as "ha-fu"). The actual word for a half (like in "half a minute") would be 半 (pronounced as "han")
random1233456 4y ago
my wife is half japanese,has citizenship and has been called a gaijin so yes. the guy was being an asshole so everyone doesn’t necessarily feel that way. but they kinda do

mortenjorck 4y ago

I’m no linguist or Japanese scholar, but it has long been interesting to me that the full word “gaikokujin” translates to “foreigner” (kanji for “outside,” “country,” “person”), while “gaijin” removes the “country” part, leaving something that could be read more fundamentally as simply “outsider”.

devoutsalsa 4y ago
Is it like gringo in Spanish or bule in Indonesian?
dixie_land 4y ago
this. I think outsider is both a more literal translation, as well as an accurate reflection of the attitude
timr 4y ago
Nerds dramatically exaggerate the significance of this. Yes, if you just look at the kanji, "outsider" is possibly the more literal translation, but at the end of the day what matters is what is in people's heads when they use the word, and not the word itself. "Gaijin" gets played up in weeby debates -- by people who are looking for reasons to be offended -- as some hugely significant cultural deviation, but it's honestly more like "foreigner" in practical usage. That word can be incredibly rude, or completely innocuous in different contexts. As can 外人. It's more accurate to say that both words mean "foreigner", but 外国人 is the PC version that renders you safe from criticism. (The irony, of course, is that no matter where you go you'll hear plenty of borderline racist policy talk with the sweetest of language.)

pkaye 4y ago

So maybe the Ninja Gaiden NES game should have been called Ninja Gaijin outside Japan?