Facts. As an Asian, I get treated like shit in the US and with upmost respect in Japan. Who cares what label is used, I’d rather be treated as a human and not as trash.
@@shakenbacon-vm4euthat’s interesting. I was under the impression that even other East Asians are treated badly in Japan. Not that I think it’s a bad thing that you’re treated well of course, just interesting to hear.
I wish I could remember the studies done on this, but it’s surprising how just changing the language used to refer to or describe something completely changes the attitude people have towards it. The number of negative interactions women working in police not only dropped sharply, but dropped in sync with the rise of “police officer” over “policeman”. And in the 1990s immigrant families living in the UK reported an improved quality of life (socially) around the time the word “foreigner” fell out of favour in news media in favour of more precise terminology. It may seem like a token effort or virtue signalling, but changes in the words used to refer to people and groups has a measurable, positive effect on society. (Of course this only works if done properly… people have a tendency to cite all the times it wasn’t done properly, or wasn’t done for good reasons, and say that it never works, ignoring all the times it has, in fact, worked)
@@odorikakeruThat is an interesting observation here. I had a korean friend that changed his last name & it really made a world of difference. You wouldn't think such a simple thing matters. However, this isn't all that different then when immigrants changed their names who came here. Even a slight changing of the spelling can effect how one perceives the other. This would make an interesting case study & while I don't disagree with the orgional comment here. To say discrimination doesn't exist for ethic Japanese try again. If you live in Okanawa you are treated different then from the mainland. The Joman people have dealt with this for a long time now. So it's a bit nieve to think Japan treats it's own better it doesn't.
It would have been funny if he had said "I met a Gaijin... she has a sister and wants to meet you." I bet that conversation would have gone 180 degrees the other way lol
I have a mixed feeling about this, like, holding a two-sided view simultaneously. Being a Hong Konger, that is, in boarder terms: an Asian, as long as my limited Japanese language level works, I may not be detected as a gaijin. Meanwhile, I am okay with being identified as one, since literally I am an "outsider". On the flip side, the Cantonsese have a word called "鬼佬" (kwai lo, or, gweilo, roughly meaning "(a) ghostly guy"), used to identify a western/white foreigner. There is a much proper and neutral version "洋人" (literally "(an) oceanic person", lexiconically "(a) foreigner") or "西人" ("(a) Westerner"), but this is seldomly seen as people usually know one's nationality and address it directly. Although there are westerners in Hong Kong open enough to call themselves as "gweilo", I would not use that word in front of them. This is the two-sidedness I am sensing from this video: the words may have carried certain prejudices and xenophobia (not xenomisia), but is watered down so much it loses weight. Ultimately, the word is not the biggest issue; the attitude is.
Correct. As a half Mexican half Polish guy from America who lived in Japan, I do not mind being called gaijin, gaikokujin or gweilo. It's the attitude behind the words that counts.
Hi Hong Konger. I'm T-800. Here to protect you from skynet. I'm sorry. I couldn't help. All shite jokes aside, as a half Nigerian half Japanese person, born and rased in japan, I really don't find the word to be inherently offensive. Although, as a kid, I had my fare shere of gaijin thrown at me by fellow school mates, and it hurted. But now grown up, I don't consider this as an insult. I STRONGLY BELEVE that this word should not be taken as an offensive word, sort of a racial slur. If taken as one, it only solidifies in non japanese that, when used in instances to offend the non japanese that they have been insulted. There is simply no point in making it an isue for us for it to ultimately offend us.
@@NicoDoesLP Another point to consider is that, perhaps "gaijin" is just an *easier* way for common local Japanese to address a non-Japanese-looking person. Like, Joey ("The Anime Man") is half Japanese too, and calling him "gaikokujin" still won't help. Maybe I am to generous to presume so, but there is no malice to assume anyway.
@@boyafro5475 Sorry to hear about your experience. A part of me feels that I am not "foreign" enough for this conversation, so at best I can only reflect through a situation I know of. There seems to be a common understanding that Japan is a monoethnic country, so otherness becomes obvious; and the Japanese gatekeep their stuff rather well. That's why population drop and domestic culture shock happening at the same time can be a scary thought even on paper. Also, given the situation that the clip mentions: when everyone is a gaijin, no one will be (lol).
How so? Do you have a different accent/way of talking or simply just how you carry yourself? I'm planning to go visit Okinawa in october, it looks so beautiful!
Nah. Happens a lot. Even if a Japanese goes away for a while and comes back westernized they can get treated like a foreigner. Or if they go to an international school they can face the same treatment if they act too Western.
@@agamersinsanity My Okinawan mom doesn’t look like typical Japanese. She told me about the racial discrimination when she was working in mainland Japan during late 60s and early 70s. She had an Okinawan Passport instead of Japanese passport at the time.
This was so well written and acted. But from an outside perspective, I can only imagine how it feels to be in the situation Japan is in. I do agree that some level of immigration is probably inevitable, but you all do have the unique opportunity to find a balance that we haven't found in the West. Tough decisions ahead
Honestly if they don't do like most western countries they should be fine. The problem with western countries is they're wondering why immigrants don't make an effort to assimilate to the culture when they're constantly being told "go back to your country". If I'm an immigrant and the natives of the country are telling me that this isn't my country why would I feel any sort of patriotism or care to learn the culture?
Gaikokujin makes sense but imagine having lived in Japan for 20years, having the Japanese nationality, perfectly speaking Japanese and having a great knowledge of the culture but people still call you gaijin which literally means outsider just because you're white. Probably doesn't feel great.
Unless of course you’re Japanese born and raised with Japanese citizenship and still get referred to as gaijin. My daughter is a so-called “haafu” but gets the gaijin label despite speaking perfect Japanese and having been raised fully immersed in the culture. So at what point is a gaijin a gaijin?
don't let the entire world into Japan, it won't be Japan anymore. also the kind of people you'd like to get, you will get very little of. the kind of people you don't want are the ones who will be lining up, because they're home countries suck. but their home countries suck because of the kind of people it's made of, their cultures and perspectives. Europe is seeing that right now. quality people who wanted to be there for the right reasons could almost always go anyway. letting in more people won't change that. they let the dregs in, and the dregs acted as the dregs they are. Japan should not follow Europe's mistake.
Oh there’s plenty of non Japanese living here, myself included. The gist of this video is correct though' the Japanese will resist” themselves into becoming easy pickings for an aggressive foreign entity like China if they keep going along this path. Then they’ll get forced homogenization as a colony instead of doing it voluntarily. Gee that sounds so much better.
LMAO bro really pulled his hair off in frustration XD I remember being in Mexico and the people calling me "gringo" but then worried it might be offensive to me. I never found it offensive. It's just the word they use. There are certainly more polite words like "gavacho" but they are basically interchangeable in my mind. I hope that we can all somehow have a long and wonderful future! Best wishes from Texas!
Well it's fine if you're just visiting but imagine being born there or having lived there for 20 years and people still call you outsider. It's unnecessarily dividing and prevents people from assimilating to the culture.
OK hear me out as a father. My daughter is half American. She was born in Tokyo. She's in elementary school. She's never left the country and is a Japanese citizen to a Japanese mother, and doesn't go to international school She can barely speak English because we don't speak English at home. She recently had a piano recital and the second she walks up on the stage, the father behind me points out to his wife that she's a gaikokujin, audibly loud enough to where the whole section heard it. He probably didn't mean it in a bad way. I didn't even want to indulge him with a dirty look. But why was that necessary? That little girl that goes to the same school as his girl and both of them sound just the same if we close our eyes ... that's an outside the country person? Such a big difference between his girl, really? Is she a foreigner? I wanted to say "you would know that if you even once came to play with your daughter at the playground!" I can get as mad as I want, but it doesn't change people's minds because the criticism isn't coming from a Japanese person, it's just another mad gaijin talking about gaijin things. So it makes me hopeful that a notable Japanese youtuber took the time to say something. These are the kinds of unwanted interactions she's going to have to face her whole life here. She'll never be considered Japanese by most. I can only hope the future people of Japan are more inclusive. That they think more about how that word lands on a very young person who thought they were just like everyone and belonged. Gaikokujin will be used to on her by someone to tell her she doesn't belong, and I don't know how I'm going to deal with that, but it's coming.
That's the consequence of having a mixed baby in a mono-ethnic nation. There are positives and negatives to multi-ethnic and mono-ethnic countries and nations. Since you're not Japanese, your child by extension will also be viewed in the same light.
You (and she) can use this to become a better person. I'm not kidding: one of the reasons that Asians have the biggest incomes in foreign countries is because they compensate the r-ism they suffer by hard work (my family did this). If you're daughter become very good in a field that is very needed by japanese economy, i assure you that the game change even for a little bit.
As a gaijin, I can’t imagine going to another country only to get offended by their language and culture, and demand that they change it due to my own sense of entitlement.
It’s not entitlement. It’s because of it was used for xenophobic reason when it started out because gaijin mean outside person which means you’re not Japanese you have to remember Japan’s history they did not open their own country to the world America did in 1858 the mindset is literally I may be sitting down, but on the inside I’m standing up, so they don’t consider people outside of Japanese culture to be Japanese. You could be mixed race Japanese and have blood bad blood flowing in your veins and you’re still not Japanese you’re a foreigner. Do you see how they treated there Miss Japan that was horrible one of them is Japan’s was half black and half Japanese. They completely ignored her butt in 2024 they had a white Ukrainian missed your parents and nobody said a word.
Yeah, reminds me of the "offended on your behalf" thing in america. Where some spoiled white girl is offended at a joke about black people, while black people laugh about it.
Yea, as I see it they take care of their culture, that is it if you add a random foreigner, who is likely being disrespectful even by accident, you will get some stares I also believe many do not have a good level of the language, not to mention how important cultural nuances are in pretty much any situation. Lastly very important also in my opinion is the concept about reading the air, which as I have seen from many vlogs here on RU-vid is not present. Most people over there worry about honne and tatemae for example, to me is just something else to deal with, not necessarily negative, restrictive at worst. In a way I am happy Japan is the way it is right now, since I get to appreciate the culture and learn from it. I got into it, because of anime, but I have grown from that. I still enjoy it quite much, but there is much more, food, music, traditional music, art, everything Japan pretty much. Like I am vegetarian/vegan, I wish I could taste the crab flavor ramune, not to mention everything else you can find at vending machines, KitKats, traditional green tea, etc. Japan is lots that the Westernized part of the world will miss, by trying to change by force whatever they see as wrong. The answer to me is to adapt and grow, stablishing bonds, not forcing them.
As a gaijin, I can’t imagine going to another country only to get offended by their language and culture, and demand that they change it due to my own entitlement.
@@soupsundying Thing is, dude, that not everybody over Japan will get to know the country itself but part of it because of their language skill, and getting to understand cultural nuances is a whole different thing. Like you can get educated, be rich, still do not quite get to adapt to anywhere freely but Japan is another different thing. It is an island that has been that for quite very long, and its culture has remained there not changing much.
Interesting video, I see Mr.Wada and you too Nobita put a lot of effort & emotion into the video. I also sense your unconditional love for Japan, and you guys are trying to be kind to others not from Japan as well. Nice job, you got the message through. both of your acting is so good, well done.
Honestly idk why the government doesn't just make programs that gives financial support to people who have kids increasing with the number of kids they have.
It doesn’t matter if someone means well, or has malicious intent. We 外人 are just that. And changing the word doesn’t change that fact. Don’t be afraid to use it.
@@pizzicatos.7996 // That’s a silly thing to be pedantic about. Especially when you still don’t negate my point. You can use any word one might deem acceptable. But the fact remains that we are not Japanese, and we are outsiders. Using a different word to describe this doesn’t change that fact.
@@pizzicatos.7996 // You are inserting your own values into the vocabulary of a culture that you are not part of. Your feelings about a term are irrelevant. It’s not for you to decide if a word of polite or derogatory. Only the speaker can decide their intent when using the words of their own language. And even if they mean it maliciously, they’re still correct in calling us that.
@@MorbidBlessing Indeed my feelings are irrelevant. Since you are unaware of this, I am informing you that in Japan the term "gaikokujin" is considered a polite term, while "gaijin" is considered a disrespectful term. That is how these terms are used by the Japanese.
I love Japan, but I would never want to work there. 99% of foreigners would agree with me if they understood how Japanese corporate culture actually works. The work culture in Japan must change or Japan is in trouble. It cannot attract the best foreign workers right now. Not even the middle tier.
The real actual discrimination is the real problem. When gaijin cannot get a home, well paying job or promotion because they do not "deserve" it. Not stupid words but actual racism.
I'm the 1% I guess cuz I don't agree. The work culture etc is changing rapidly because of the amount of the foreigners living in Japan. They (your boss, your superiors/colleagues) listen to you and are open to suggestions/advices from you because of your gaijin input. They value it and will not force you to do things that is normal in Japan but is hard for you etc. This is happening more than ever nowadays because the younger population either do not work in Japan or at a Japanese company or value themselves more think that they deserve better. That's why it is becoming more common for companies to hire a gaijin instead of a young Japanese person. Long story short it is changing thanks to gaijin, and in a weird way, thanks to the young people in Japan.
@@cattysplatthe reason they don't want a gaijin tenant is rarely because of racism nowadays. The landlord of one of the places I was looking to rent specifically said NO VIETNAMESE ALLOWED! I if you knew how Vietnamese act in Japan you would understand where the guy was coming from. Anyway the reason he didn't want gaijin was because his previous tenants were gaijin and they left the place damaged and didn't pay their last rent and didn't pay anything for the damage they caused. There is a Ramen shop I'm frequent to and that place has a warning on the front door saying no tourists are allowed. You can thank people like logan paul for that. They don't want to dealt with gaijin not because they're specifically racist, but because gaijin actually don't give a fuck about Japan. If you're in Rome do as Romans do.
Don't start altering your culture to avoid offending outsiders. it's a road to bullshit. First it's this word then that word, then one institution then another until you've watered down everything and you've lost the things that made your culture interesting in the first place.
Wow! Nobita!!! The comedic acting and timing and script were so spot on amazing!! This video deserves an award! Please make more content like this!!! These kinds of videos will help you get to 2M subscribers fast! 二百万ガンバレ！
Nobita, your friend deserves an award for that acting! Very emotional! I could believe he was on the verge of crying - had me at the edge of my seat! ^_^
I wonder why this 6 minute video felt like a 2 hour movie lol. The roller coaster of emotions and immersion was real. It's a good way of looking at the term tho
I'm half Japanese and live in Japan now but even visiting as a kid during the summer, I was always treated as different. I know the language, I know the culture, I'm more used to Japan than the US. The second I speak Japanese, I immediately get treated differently too. It's frustrating, to say the least. I do see myself as more Japanese than American because I grew up more around Japanese culture than US. I don't think I'll ever truly be accepted, even when I finally gain Japanese citizenship.
I doubt Japanese culture and tradition is going to disappear because many of us who visit Japan love and respect those things with some people happily incorporating them into their daily lives even in other countries.
I hope that an increase of foreigners might help combat Japan‘s toxic work culture, as people from different cultures might be more outspoken regarding that matter.
Frankly I doubt it, people who "love" Japanese culture like Japanese food and shows but that's ultimately superficial when it comes to the cultural iceberg. If Japan accepts mass immigration than it will become like the Societies they invite, for better or worse.
It is crazy how cultures rise and fall, how they change and become something else. It has been a crazy ride but I think it is time for major changes around the clock.
Apart from the Employment sort fall which is starting to bite already, plus the Japanese economy flat lining and a large amount companies going bankrupt...
いつも選択があります｡ Japan can survive economic problems such as lower pensions that result from a low birth rate. Use labor more efficiently. Devise a means by which a person can increase their social status by having more children. This doesn’t mean paying people to have kids. This means changing your culture’s social expectations. Use your brain, and understand the extent to which your people will suffer if you make the same mistakes as Europe.
Without the money to raise them, no matter what the “cultural expectations” responsible people aren’t going to have kids. Now if you could get it back to the good old days when one person could support a family you might have a chance, but that’s not going to happen. Besides that, you have to get people in Japan interested in dating each other first, before you can try to entice them to start banging out kids.
This was brilliant Japanese Drama! Or was it comedy? It was wonderfully acted and mocked so many Japanese stereotypes us 'gaijin' have about Japan. I look forward to the next episode of this addictive soap opera... 😂
Japan is the only country in the world that has people that will call me 'Gaijin.' If I ever go to Japan, and no one calls me Gaijin, I will be very disappointed. It's part of the Japanese tourist experience.
I loved this! When he took off his wig and slammed it onto the table. 😂 That was a comical approach to a serious issue. It doesn’t look like the Japanese government is doing enough to encourage Japanese to have more children. People have children despite what’s going wrong in the world because they have hope. To me, the declining birth rate means that young people in Japan have lost hope in the future of their country. They can’t see past the economic problems and other issues and bring children into the world. I hope that Japan can regain its hope and preserve its culture and traditions.
Pretty accurate observation. From my personal experience talking to Japanese people in Japan, a lot have given up hope. But there is the mentality of “putting your head into the sand” and just ignoring everything bad by coping with entertainment (anime, manga, sexual services, etc.).
@@cattysplat I agree, but it’s on a different level in Japan and Korea. And the thing that most other western countries don’t have are the INSANE work hours in Japan and even more so in Korea. This obviously only makes things worse.
I wonder if anyone's ever experimented by actively calling Japanese people outside of Japan as "outsiders." Maybe that would change the use of the word "gaijin" for those particular people?
The fact that its even being talked about is great, I have never felt bad being called a gaijin personally. But, I can see how having a single term associated with anyone foreign is closed minded.
Having foreigners is not necessarily a bad thing,Most actually appreciate and love the culture that’s why they come to Japan.There needs to be more education about people from other countries. In my country (Jamaica) and many others,Japanese are accepted without discrimination so why is this argument still a thing?
Wow,the acting,I hope I'll find more of these two. There really should be an open dialogue about this between non-Japanese and Japanese citizens,to weave the cultures together.
Damn, that was peak acting 😂 Now, although I can understand why "gaijin" could be considered a little pushy onto foreigners, I see no reason to be offended by it. By any means, I think that if someone is going to move to a different country (as in this case, to Japan) they shouldn't be forced to let go their roots, but they should definitely embrace and do their best to actually learn history and adapt to the new culture they're gonna live in. In other words, I think any "foreigner" should be accepted into a country, as long as they are willing to do the things right and be part of the country and not inject the place with their ideas to make it all fit to them.
The US, China, and Europe are all suffering birthrate decline. South Korea, too. I really don't see immigration being the answer to anybody's birthrate problems. I think increased manufacturing, job creation, and in Japan's case, a change to work culture in terms to how many hours a person has to work to earn a living, is the real key forward. Mass immigration is just kicking the can down the road a bit and you will eventually wind up with an aged mixed-race population rather than a homogenous one.
There's nothing wrong with having a lower population. A nation can host only a certain amount of people, but billionaires don't like it because housing prices go back to being normal and jobs go back to paying a decent amount.
I really liked the character arc of "Senpai". Originally he was criticising Nobita for focusing too much on the "gaijin" aspect of a person, but really he's just as afraid as Nobita about how gaijin could change Japan, but also knows that without them that same Japan which he cherishes will someday die.
I feel like the issue is less that gaijin is a rude term and more that it's an inaccurate term. For the most part, anyways. Foreigners, tourists, and immigrants are all distinctly unique. Surely Japanese has a word for each, so why not use them? It also helps to avoid misconceptions and miscommunication if they aren't all lumped together.
Exactly, and though I may not like the word my wish isn't for them to stop saying it (because it's a free country after all), but rather for them to understand the differences between different kinds of foreigners and better express what they actually mean. That said, there are a slew of alternative terms for which Japanese people indiscriminately use "外人" and more open-minded Japanese people actually use the following terms. When using "外人" to mean "white person," there's 白人 (white person), 西洋人 (Westerner), and 欧米人 ("Euro-American), the list goes on. When referring to immigrants or foreign residents, there's 移民 (immigrants), 難民 (refugees), 在日外国人 (foreign residents of Japan), etc. For foreign tourists, one can say 海外の方 ("people from abroad" though this can be used for foreign residents as well) or 国際観光客 ("international tourists"). Finally, if the intent is to say "non-Japanese," just be forthright and say 日本人じゃ無い ("not Japanese") or 日本国籍お持ちで無い方 ("people who do not hold Japanese citizenship"). I know some of these can be a mouthful even for native Japanese speakers, but those who would lump us all in the same pigeonhole as "外人" are being lazy and/or showing their ignorance (especially when they KNOW other terms exist) and thus lose a bit of my respect.
Absolutely loved it. To be honest i wouldn't mind being called gaijin at all. I'm not really the type of person who gets offended by such words. Your performance was wonderful👍
I am a foreigner living here in Japan for more than 10 years and I really don’t care if people call me gaijin, in fact I am a gaijin. So what, I am working here and people treat me normal and mostly friendly I didn’t have any negative experiences so far but I live in a small town not in Tokyo, people are super chill here and very open. But still I am from abroad and do not look like a Japanese and people who don’t know me will recognize that I am gaijin and that’s fine.👍
Nobita, that is so spot on. I don't think your character meant any nastiness I feel many in your characters situation think that forcing something without consent from everybody could be at the heart of things. We don't like force. We all make friends through choice not force. But by them forcing they're creating countries within a country and will eventually destabilise them and crash their economy further. We all love our families but we wouldn't want to live with them necessarily. We all have our preferences so to speak.
It‘s quite interesting to see Japan go through this issue from the outside. As a European let me tell you: it starts with not wanting to “offend” anyone and ends with your own people being a minority in your major cities within a few decades.
Seeing your name I can assume that you live in a German speaking country. Coincidentally, Germany is one of the European countries with the most foreigners. The city with the most foreign residents is Frankfurt with ~29% (2019) meaning that German people are in fact not a minority. Furthermore, many of them work in important sections such as construction or healthcare making them an important asset for the development of the country. Don't spread those unnecessary prejudices and don't judge people by their culture.
@@reeel4915The irony of using Frankfurt as an example. Frankfurt has been pointed out as having an actual German minority as far back as 2017, with about 51% having not been born in Germany, or having non-German parents (so having an immigrant background). That was 7 years ago, so that situation surely didn’t get any better. Your statistics don’t mean anything when everybody having German citizenship is included as being “German”. Thank you anyway for telling me that my perception of the real world is not true. So every time I go to the swimming pool, the local park or just take the subway and I’m surrounded by very obviously non-Europeans I can see with my own eyes, hearing them speak in a language I don’t know with my own ears, I’ll tell myself that it’s just lies, because some random brick on RU-vid found some statistics in the internet.
Also, a lot of foreigners are fascinated by Japanese culture, so I imagine some of them might take up the mantle of conservationists and work to maintain practices and places and stories.
One thing to note about the "horrors of declining birth rates". Can anyone name a single country that has been destroyed or dissolved and ceased to exist as a result of declining birth rates? Declining birth rates can cause problems for a society. Potentially quite macabre ones (like senior citizens not being able to live off pensions and social services because the working population is simply too small to support them). So worst case scenario, the elderly and infirm might perish in large numbers as a result. And that would certainly be a terrible result for sure. But will it destroy a country? Personally I don't think so. The elderly would perish, their property would be inherited by the younger generations and the country and the economy would eventually adapt and balance itself to the new population levels accordingly. It would of course be ideal to avoid such a scenario, but there are some key questions that should be asked about it too. Namely: how sustainable is it, long term to structure a society like a giant pyramid scheme that essentially requires ever increasing birth rates to financially support an ever increasing group of elderly retired citizens? Can any society really do this long term without courting disaster? Can out planet and natural resources support such a development? Despite our best intentions, we have to adress the issue at some point that we all live with a finite number of resources, yet governments do nothing to ensure that populations stay at levels adapted to this finite number. All of them just push for us to grow ever more numerous, because it leads to short term wealth gains for a select few people. It is a very irresponsible policy that has been made a norm.
As somebody who was a "Gaijin" (lived in japan, am foreign), I never once thought bad of the term. I don't know when it shifted to being common that people believe something is bad even if not meant maliciously, but I personally think that mindset is ridiculous. If you don't know something is bad, or could be considered to be bad, you can't possibly be held responsible for it. That's akin to Thoughtcrime, which I'm sure a great many people are "guilty" of - I'd like to see *someone you don't like here* hit by a bus etc. In my time in Japan, I taught English, as many do, and I myself am from England. In England we have our own phrases and even gestures which are considered rude or offensive, and many times did I see my students make such a gesture. Put your hand in front of you and make a V, facing outwards, with your index finger and middle finger - This is fine. Flip that around so the V faces towards you instead. This is considered rude in the UK, and I saw this gesture quite a few times during my stay. I never once even mentioned this to my students, and didn't get offended at it. Why should I? It means no different to the other "V" in Japan as far as I know, and I knew they weren't being knowingly offensive towards me. I think its pretty similar to getting offended at words in another language that sound pretty similar to offensive words in your own language, such as the Japanese "Nigai~" which I assume anyone reading this knows what I'm referencing. Obviously there's a little bit of a difference as many people who know the word "Gaijin", and the word applies to them, know what it means. What I'm saying is that the importance lies not on the person who hears and MAY be offended, but more on the person who says it and IF they mean to be offensive. EDIT: Obviously this is from my perspective. I am not, have never been, and may never be a long-time resident in Japan so admittedly the term fits me pretty well. I can understand that people who have lived in Japan for many years, perhaps their whole lives, could have a very different perspective on this matter.
In English, nobody would ever refer to a friend as a "foreigner". Instead, they would use the person's country of origin plus "national" if needed. For example, I met a French guy last night at a party." But of course, in keeping with the Japanese tendency for vague speech, "I met a foreigner last night at a party" sounds appropriate. Another example: "Who's that guy?" "He's from France/He's French."
Go to Europe you dumb american lmao. You ARE an immigrant (not even "foreigner", people call you "immigrant" because is more accurate) and people should absolutely call you so if you are not born in the country.
Yeah, I don't think naming the country is even all that necessary you can just tell their name and it kinda would be obvious that they are a foreigner and it may hint at their nationality. Just treat people as individuals, he's not a "foreign dude" or a "Frenchman", he's Rene (for example). And then they would say "Ooh, he's French?", "Yep.". And that's it. It's really awkward when people call you by your country of origin and kind off expect you to be the perfect example of a /*ThatCountry/* person. As if we're all supposed to be the same. Even if there is a country that is as small as a village it still would be populated by all kinds of people, so stereotyping is annoying and alienating. It reduces real people to political caricatures.
@@greatwave2480 We're imagining a hypothetical situation in which Japanese (and Koreans @jeff_w) identify non-Japanese as "gaijin" rather than in a more natural way. Japanese may not be able to recognize a person's ethnic origin--not that it should matter, but TJR feels that it does to have made a video about it. Yusef is very ambiguous, as is Carlo, Karl, or even William, and would still be followed up by, "Where are you from?" The Japanese have a pervasive "soto" vs. "uchi" mentality, which is not by any means unique to Japan. Humans have always grouped others by their tribe so to speak, to ascertain if they are friends or foes.
If I ever get a chance to visit Japan feel free to call me a "Gaijin". Seriously, I am not Japanese by heritage, I am not a citizen of Japan, I was not born in Japan, and I know very little of Japanese culture. If the shoe fits might as well wear it. I don't view it as "offensive" either.
But you're not someone who's been brought up in Japan. If you were born and raised in Japan and you were still treated as a gaijin I think your tune might be different
Well if you just a tourist the term gaijin is appropriate..Those who tend to get offended are those living in japan for years, paying taxes and all but still get the "gaijin" treatment.
Yeah. It's not really about you. As a foreigner I mean. He's saying Japanese need to quit a bad custom that's outdated, for their own good. Keeping that up means they keep themselves separated, mentally at the very least. A large portion of the people agree that a slightly more open society would be better for the country. But it's hard for them to quit something that is kind of a defense mechanism.
@@ZaWyvern Problem is you give an inch and they take a mile. Look at the west now and now everyone is offended over everything. The more one ''progresses'' the more hateful people become paradoxically enough. But I am not doubting your concerns, I bet it is a huge issue but I am also scared if it could erode people's morals as well if virtue signaling became the norm there as well through this notion.
I mean, a declining birthrate will not decline forever, it will stabilize eventually. It's only bad until that point. Nobody says that you need to grow grow grow to just exist. That's a capitalist dogma, constant growth, and if you grow less than inflation, you're losing. Well, I'd rather have de-flation, the opposite, by a declining birthrate, than constant growth with limited ressources. But the Bank of Japan does their best to combat de-flation by printing money left and right.
