Outside looking in

As you know, I try to keep up with current events as much as I can, and the fact that I have loads of free time at school means loads of time to read the news religiously. I have a few favorite websites - Drudge Report, Fark.com, CNN, BBC - but for all things Japan-related, I turn to JapanToday.com. Japan Today's journalism isn't as good as the other major English language newspaper in Japan, the Japan Times, but it does give its online readers the opportunity to comment on articles. So I mostly read the comments, truth be told.

Anyway, today I clicked on an article - well, more a poll than an article - that asked readers if they thought the word gaijin was a racist term. This particular topic is one of frequent debate among foreign residents and visitors of Japan, but for those of you unfamiliar with it, here's a little background:

Gaijin, 外人, literally means "outside person", and is commonly used to refer to foreigners. It's an abbreviation of the more "official" term gaikokujin, 外国人, or "outside country person". Most foreigners overwhelmingly prefer the latter term, because they consider the former to reinforce the idea that they, as individuals (regardless of their country of origin), are inexorably "outside" Japanese society. Which is true, but nevertheless, it takes the edge off when you refer to someone as being from a foreign country rather than label them as a foreigner.

Further, while you could translate gaijin as "foreigner", it doesn't mean the same thing to the Japanese as it means to most of us. For non-Japanese, being a foreigner usually means being in a country other than the one you come from. So while someone from France would be a foreigner in the U.S., an American would be a foreigner in France. To the Japanese, however, being a foreigner means being something other than Japanese. So, a Japanese would consider her American neighbor to be a foreigner (non-Japanese), but when she goes on vacation to Hawaii, she finds herself surrounded by "foreigners" (again, non-Japanese). It sounds funny to us to hear a Japanese person, when vacationing abroad, say, "Look at all the gaijin!". But we must remember that it's not some weird insular provincialism at work here (at least not entirely), but rather a simple difference in how Japanese and non-Japanese conceive of "the outsider".

Anyway, a lot of my fellow expats get miffed when they hear that particular term, staging a mini protest every time (it's gaikokujin, thank you very much). Others bandy it about quite liberally, in some instances ironically (hey, look at the dumb gajin over here!) and in others quite earnestly. The word definitely means different things to different people, but I personally think it has a lot to do with the context in which the word is used, and the intent of the person who uses it. Obviously an drunk densha otoko yelling, "Get out of Japan, gaijin!" means it in a racist way, but your buddy Takeshi who says, "I have a lot of gaijin friends," doesn't. It's all about context, you see. I have always believed that no object in this world has meaning other than that which we impart to it. In other words, words mean what you want them to mean. As my former boss was so fond of saying, "Perception is reality."

That quote's a pretty good end to this entry, but I feel like I could write so much more about the relationship between foreigners living in Japan and the Japanese - and indeed, dozens of books have already been written about that very subject. But for now, I'd like to leave you with a handy guide to what I call the "Hierarchy of Foreigners" which will help you locate your place in Japanese society, should you ever wind up living in or visiting this island nation behind the sun. It goes like this:

1. Japanese - all strata of Japanese society, from the Emperor on down to the burakumin, people descended from the lowest caste who face discrimination even today. As long as you have pure Japanese blood, you're in this group. Welcome to the club!

2. Japanese returnees, halfus, Ryukyuans, Ainu - maybe you're Japanese, or half-Japanese, but you've spent some time in a foreign country and have, as a consequence, picked up some weird habits. Maybe your Japanese language ability has suffered a bit. Unfortunately, when you come back to Japan, you'll be bullied accordingly until you can properly "fit in" again.

3. White people - the Japanese look up to you and look to your European heritage as a source of inspiration. They don't necessarily want you living in their neighborhoods or marrying their daughters (though most are probably OK with it these days), but they're more than happy to practice their English on you and appropriate your food and fashion.

4. Black people - you're considered cool, and many Japanese will try to emulate your music and fashion (albeit with hilarious consequences), but to many Japanese, you're incredibly scary. Be prepared to face this grim reality, though you might win some points if you casually mention that you know Beyonce (and you probably won't be the one who brings it up).

5. Chinese and Koreans - you are blessed, or cursed, with the ability to blend in - at least until someone starts talking to you and you don't understand what they're saying. The Japanese find you to be quite disturbing because they think of themselves as being special and unique, but yet you, a non-Japanese, managed to fool them into thinking that you were one of them. Also, their contempt for you has well-established historical roots, and don't be surprised if they regale you with tales of how they "liberated" your country in WWII.

6. All other Asians - same as #5, but unlike many Chinese and Koreans, you lack the ability to blend in as well as they. The historical stuff still applies, though. Good luck!

-Bob