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Generally, the term is used to describe non-Oriental foreigners in Japan. East Asians are, rather, referred to using their ethnic or national backgrounds, as in chugokujin (中国人 Chinese; lit. China + person) or kankokujin (South Korean; lit. South Korea + person). Foreigners of primarily Japanese ancestry are called nikkei, while part-Japanese foreigners are usually called hāfu (ハーフ "half") or kuotā (クオーター"quarter"). This indicates that the term gaijin carries racial, as well as national, nuances.
The first Europeans to visit Japan, starting in 1543, were known as Nanban (南蛮 Lit. "Southern barbarians"), owing to the fact that their ships came sailing in from the south, and that they were perceived as quite unrefined by Japanese standards. This designation was adopted from Chinese usage, and had been in use to name southern people in general.
The usage of the term died off during the Edo era, when the country was closed to foreigners. From 1854, when Japan opened again, until the early 20th century, foreigners in Japan were commonly referred to as ijin (異人 Lit. "Different person"), a contraction of ikokujin (異国人 Lit. "Different country person") or ihoujin (異邦人 Lit. "Different motherland person").
Starting in the Meiji era, the term gaikokujin was used to refer to Japanese residents from outside the Empire of Japan, while the term naikokujin (内国人 "inside country person") was used to refer to nationals of other territories of the Empire. The naikokujin term fell out of use after World War II, but gaikokujin remained the official government term for non-Japanese people in Japan.
Some feel that in a collectivist culture such as Japan, where strong social and business distinctions are made between in- and out-group members, the literal meaning of this word, i.e. "outside person," emphasises the idea that non-Japanese are outsiders. Others point out that what foreigners in Japan really find annoying is that, after settling into Japan and becoming proficient in the language, they are still referred to as "foreigners" by people who couldn't possibily know their actual citizenship or status of residence. Further, the term is regularly applied to naturalized Japanese citizens who do not have ethnically Japanese ancestry. Due to these racially oriented and out-group contexts in a society that is nearly ethnically homogeneous, non-Japanese often perceive the word gaijin as derogatory.
Japanese may avoid using gaijin in front of non-Japanese, substituting instead the official term gaikokujin (some non-Japanese even insist on this). On the other hand, most Japanese use the term gaijin as part of their conversation, ostensibly, without pejorative intent. In fact, puzzled Japanese often ask foreign visitors why they find the word gaijin to be offensive.
Because of these mixed perceptions of the word gaijin, it is a common target of kotobagariKotobagari (, lit. word hunting") refers to the censorship of words considered politically incorrect in the Japanese language. Words such as gaijin ("foreigner/outsider"), rai (" leper") , mekura ("blind") , tsunbo ("deaf") , kichigai ("crazy"), tosatsujo ("word hunting"), the censorship of terms considered to be politically incorrectPolitical correctness is the alteration of language said by proponents to redress real or alleged unjust discrimination or to avoid offense. The term most often appears in the predicate adjective form politically correct often abbreviated PC and is usuall.
Recently, sociologists have noted that a new word, jingai (the reverse of gaijin), has been coined specifically to be used in an uncomplimentary manner. The word has far more offensive implication because jingai means "outside of person", i.e. non human. This word serves a double purpose. One is to mock those who insist that gaijin is pejorative, and the other is to indeed use it to slander foreigners who previously had no specific pejorative description.
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