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- Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
- Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!dxcern!vxcrna.cern.ch!ikeda
- From: ikeda@vxcrna.cern.ch (IKEDA,M./EP)
- Subject: Re: Who started all this gaijin myth?! (was Re: Genitals in Japan)
- Message-ID: <23NOV199211063302@vxcrna.cern.ch>
- News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41
- Sender: news@dxcern.cern.ch (USENET News System)
- Organization: European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN
- References: <MS-C.722505867.1103527590.mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU>
- Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 10:06:00 GMT
- Lines: 26
-
- In article <MS-C.722505867.1103527590.mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU>, Mark Crispin <mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU> writes...
- >Michiaki Masuda writes:
- >> So, how do you want us to call "gaijin"? We cannot call them "Nippon-jin",
- >>can we?
- >
- >Answer: how about ``hito'', ``o-kyaku-san'', etc.?
-
- I agree with you that there is a tendency to use the word for foreigner too
- often when it is not needed and that to simply use the nationality-neutral
- terms would be much more acceptable.
-
- >WHY is it so damn important to have to specifically say that the person is not
- >of Japanese race? Yes, I mean ``Japanese race'' -- I have *never* heard
- >``gaijin'' used to describe anyone who looks Japanese.
-
- Sorry, but it is not used solely as a racist term. It can be used to
- distinguish er...non-Japanese Japanese. I have been called a gaijin as
- well (mostly by old ladies).
-
- >[rest of sledgehammer-style post deleted]
-
- Ok, although you may be on a crusade to modify the usage of a word, it
- takes time and the underlying xenophobia will still be there. Perhaps
- a new and nasty word will be created! :-\
-
- -- Makoto (a gaijin and a "damn foreigner")
-