Gaijin

Wikipedia says that Gaijin (外人) is a Japanese word meaning "non-Japanese", or "alien".



I have heard foreign people hate being called “gaijin”. Is that right?


I went on a trip in Japan with an American friend a few years ago. When we took a taxi, I was talking to the driver in Japanese and I said the word “gaijin” in the conversation.


My friend wasn’t able to understand Japanese. She had started studying Japanese, but she didn’t even know how to say “mother” or “father”.


However, she seemed to catch the word “gaijin”, and got upset.


Most Japanese people believe that “gaijin” means “people from foreign countries” without any further meaning. We can say “gaikokujin（外国人）” and “gaikoku kara irasshatta kata（外国からいらっしゃった方）”, but the first one sounds too formal and the second one is too long to say.


Since I didn’t know my friend didn’t like to be called “gaijin”, that I was shocked to know she was angry.


I believe the definitions in Wiki are a bit wrong. The Japanese people don’t mean anything negative by the word.


I’d like to know why and how the word has become associated with a bad meaning or impression.


If you know any reasons, let me know, please.


And, what should I say instead of gaijin???






Thank you.










Columbine, thanks for helping.