Talk:Gaijin/Archive 2

message: I'm suprised this has a dedicated article. Wouldn't it make more sense to be part of a greater Japanese section, such as culture? Who other than foreigners who have lived in, or do live in, Japan are going serach on this topic? The word has no meaning oustide Japan and as such seems to me to be something which should be incorporated into a larger Japanese section. Thoughts? Barryvalder 08:15, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The relationship between Japan and the "outside world" has been and remains complex at both the societal and individual level and while this article could use quite a bit of cleaning up I think it already shows its potential.  As for "gaijin" having no meaning outside of Japan ... the word gets 1.64 million hits on the English language Google, has a handful of corresponding Wiki-articles in other languages, and is a part of the social identity for the nontrivial number of current and former expats in Japan ... I think the article deserves to stay right where it is. CES 13:27, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

text: I think this would work better incorporated into a broader article on Japanese cultural/racial identity.  Judging by the links that brought me first to this article, I was expecting something more along those lines, and not an essay about why the word 'gaijin' is or isn't racist.  And right now it seems pretty strongly biased to the POV that it isn't. --TPS Report 11:41, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge with Japan / Japanese cultural identity? 

message: Would it make sense to add a link to Gai-Jin (book) to the article? I would think that some people want to get to it instead of this. Possibly one of those "x is also a book" style things at the top? I don't know where to put it, otherwise I'd go ahead... Ealex292 04:47, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I did as you suggested and added a disambiguation link using :Template:Dablink.  See WP:D for more information. Dforest 12:09, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  The book by James Clavell 

message: * Replaced confusing ensuto reference with simpler explanation
* Removed inaccurate comments about abbreviations in English.
* Removed long, unnecessary comments about titles, replace with shorter, simpler paragraph
* Streamlined and simplified section on gaikoku
* Restore comments on foreigners of Japanese descent
* Removed inaccurate and, frankly, bizarre, comments about Taiwanese and Irish
* Edited for English grammar, style and flow
Exploding Boy 05:46, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: My edits to the Usage section

message: :"Some non-Japanese also object to the use of gaijin as a form of address (as in gaijin-san). It is common in Japanese to address others by title rather than name. For example, customers are customarily addressed as O-kyaku-sama ("honourable customer"); a person who works in a bookshop might be addressed as Honya-san (Mr. Bookseller); a butcher might be addressed as Nikuya-san (Miss Butcher), and so on. However, addressing others by a physical trait is not usually seen as polite. For example, it would not be acceptable, in most cases, to address someone as Debu-san (Mr. Fatty) or Megane-san (Ms. Eyeglasses). The term gaijin-san is akin to calling someone Mrs. Foreigner, and is therefore often perceived as rude."
No basis whatsoever. When reference to foreigner become physical trait.  Only justified if gaijin only refer to white which is factually untrue. Vapour
::Clearly "foreignness" (ie: being non-Asian) is a physical trait.  Exploding Boy 17:01, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Foreigner->Physical trait