I am a Gaijin

Recently I've heard a lot of ranting from other foreign Tokyo residents about the use of the word 'gaijin.'  Specifically, they hate it. 

To give you a little background, I should tell you that the word 'gaikokujin' 外国人is the most correct and proper way to refer to anyone who is not Japanese, and it is used in formal situations and by all government personnel.  Gaijin, 外人a shortened form of that, is more colloquial and is arrived at simply by removing the word 'koku.'  That koku 国is the kanji character meaning country, and it is what designates us foreigners as being from other countries, as opposed to other planets, universes, or dimensions.  So the difference between the two monikers is the difference between being called 'foreigner' and 'outsider.' 

According to my unofficial tally, 99.999% of people who've been in Japan for more than five years, including myself, use the latter.  It's shorter, zippier, and less obsequious. 

(Plus, it's kind of fun to claim as my own an insult that was once yelled at me by other urchins, at around age 7.  We were very sophisticated in our use of epithets, you see.  The conversation went something like this:

"You're a stupidhead!"

"Oh, yeah?  You're a gaijin!"

"Well you're a BOY!"

"Take that back, slugbrain!"

"You're so dumb, you wear a hat!"

"Well you're so ugly, you have pockets!"

So the whole topic makes me feel a little nostalgic for those early diplomatic sessions.) 

But some foreigners take umbrage at being called an outsider. 

We are not outsiders!  they proclaim.  We are foreigners!  They have decided that the term gaijin is derogatory and condescending.  To all those who feel this way, I would like to say,

"Welcome to the party.  Get over yourself already." 

I would say it nicely, probably, but deep down I'd be rolling my eyes.

Foreigners work themselves into a warm lather over this!  They get their feelings so very hurt!  Personally I think that there other things more deserving of this level of wrathful attention: discriminatory immigration practices, lack of oversight for law enforcement, and the creepy political speeches broadcast at deafening volume on the streets.  But being called a gaijin? 

"Hello, my name is Anna, and I'm a gaijin. "

That's what we are.  We're outsiders.  We look different, we talk different, and we come from anywhere other than Japan--in short, we are anything and everything EXCEPT Japanese.  And that's the fundamental division here, not just as it applies to foreigners but in every layer of society and language.  Uchi and soto, inner and outer, literally means inside the house and outside the house.  Us and them.  In or out.  This is not a beautifully multicultural society where each gorgeous hue is just one facet of a wonderfully refracted prism.  That's not how it works here.  It's one or the other: Honne and tatemae, what's thought privately vs. what's said publicly, and ne'er the twin shall meet. 

You can rail against it all you want.  In fact, here's a megaphone; feel free to take your place out on the street.  But be warned: you'll identify yourself as someone who really doesn't get it.  In other words, you'll identify yourself as an outsider.  Hello there, gaijin.