Controversy after TV host calls Christel Takigawa a “gaijin”

Anger erupted among fans of TV announcer Christel Takigawa last week after Yutaka Hasegawa, host of a FTV cable program, talked about Takigawa being removed from the main line-up of newscasters on “News JAPAN“:

“This girl, uh, she is also by far more skillful than that foreigner (gaijin) who was doing it until recently, you know? Uh, he properly understands what is going on at the scene. She often goes to collect information, to study. This News JAPAN, I really think it may be good.”

The “foreigner” in this case is the resigned newscaster Christel Takigawa. This part of the remarks by Mr. Hasegawa was uploaded to the YouTube video sharing site and as 2-channel and other message boards viewed it as a problem, a dispute ensued. On October 1st, 2009, it became an uproar. Many fans that had from the start voiced opposition to the sacking of Ms. Takigawa who had appeared on News JAPAN billboards and chaos broke out on the Internet:

“Why is he using discriminatory language toward someone who was sacked?”

“We can’t forgive that guy for speaking ill of Christel.”

Videos of the statement have been popping up on YouTube, but at the moment all copies seem to have been removed by FTV.

Takigawa was born in France to a French father and a Japanese mother, but she a Japanese citizen who has spent almost all of her life in Japan. Her native language is Japanese. Her fans, who see her as a talented Japanese woman did not appreciate the crude criticism of her and the use of the term “gaijin.”

FTV later issued an apology:

“Gaijin” is improper language, and we should have immediately corrected the problem. The TV program production side is also humbly reflecting on this, and we truly want to apologize to the program’s audience and others who felt uncomfortable.

Over at J-Cast, nearly one hundred comments have been left in Japanese about this story. Some argue that “gaijin” is a bad term to use towards anyone, while others think this case was bad because “gaijin” was used to refer to a Japanese person. A few see no problem at all with calling her a “gaijin.”

[The Japanese news article translations in this post were provided by myGengo’s simple human translation system.]

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94 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - October 9, 2009 at 5:56 am

Categories: Celebrity News, Discrimination Tags: gaijin

Jon

This just proves that gaijin is a discriminatory term. Many people will say that it does not have negative connotations but when someone they like is called it, they will stand up and admit what everyone knows, that it is discriminatory.
- Weirdo
  
  The act of calling someone that is Japanese not Japanese is what is offending the fans here. The word gaijin itself has no negative connotations. It’s similar to the rudeness/insult if you call someone un-american in the US, not rude applied to an actual foreigner, but there are different connotations when directed to an American.
  - Jon
    
    Of course the word gaijin has negative connotations. I have had many Japanese tell me the word is rude and I heard a Japanese priest give a speech telling the students in the school to stop using the word. If you don’t think it is rude tell a Japanese person in Japanese. “I am living in Japan now so I am a gaijin. So of course when you are in another country you are gaijin right?”
    
    They are upset because it is a derogatory term applied to someone they like and they are defending her.
    - lovely
      
      i have tried this very arguement with my japanese students and they are horrified that they would ever be a gaijin anywhere. they are japanese. as for the announcer insinuating that the lovely Ms. Takigawa, spending most of her life in japan, doesn`t understand japan and “at the scene” because she has foreign blood is beyond rude. it is moronic.
    - Weirdo
      
      You must be talking to a different kind of people then, maybe those who were told gaijin was offensive by foreigners. But none of my インター acquaintances really feel offended by the term “gaijin”, most are kids of expats. And I don’t know what kind of morons you’ve talked to but most reasonable people know that they are foreigners in a foreign country.　Many people even use gaijin in a positive way like 「外人に生まれたかった」　http://cheese.2ch.net/celebrity/kako/992/992004739.html
      because they want to be taller/prettier, or 「原付に乗った外人さんは、やっぱりかっこいい」
      http://ameblo.jp/marblediary/entry-10344542917.html
    - ponta
      
      If I lived in the U.S. I were gaijin/gaikokujin.
      If you were to tell me, “Kokodewa anataga gaijin/gaikokujin desu, it is true and there is nothing offensive about it.
      
      It I wase born between an American and a Japanese, lived in the U.S. (or Japan) and had the U.S. citizenship (or Japanese citizenship) but if I was called a foreinger/gaijin/gaikokujin, I would feel alienated.
      
      In this case, it would be improper even if he said, “This guy, uh, he is also by far more skillful than that foreigner (gaikokujin) who was doing it until recently
    - Jon
      
      I didn’t talk to any “morons” just highly educated Japanese who know the meaning behind words.(By the way, thanks for quickly bringing this discussion down to the lowest level by throwing insults) Yes all foreigners know they are foreigners but words have different connotations. African Americans know they are from the “negroid” race but to them the word “negroe” and its even less polite cousin, is offensive because of its history and deeper meaning. Of course you can find many foreigners who have no problem with the word gaijin but that doesn’t mean it isn’t offensive. I know many bi-cultural people who were taunted with the word gaijin in schools here. I have never heard from them that it wasn’t offensive.
      
      I also don’t know if students in international schools are the best judge of Japanese culture since in many ways they are isolated from it.
    - ponta
      
      Jon
      By the same token the word “foreigner” has negative connotations, is that what you are saying?
    - Jon
      
      Of course it can have negative connotations and can be offensive but each word has historical and cultural connotations. In the U.S in some situations to call someone a foreigner would be rude.
      
      In every language there are words to describe groups that are acceptable and those that are considered rude. Foe example we can call someone an Italian/American. But to call someone a “W**” is rude. Generally the surface meaning is similar but the deeper meaning is very different.Most native speakers of the language know which one is acceptable.
      
      From what I have heard from Japanese the word gaikokujin is more polite than gaijin. Obviously there meaning is very similar but the deeper meaning is different.
    - ponta
      
      Jon
      All you are saying is that the words such as gaijin/gaikokuin/foreinger/immigrant can be offensive depending on the context.
      
      From what I have heard from Japanese the word gaikokujin is more polite than gaijin. Obviously there meaning is very similar but the deeper meaning is different.
      
      gaikokujin is an official word to be used in an official document and it happens to be used on TV somehow as MacDonald may be an official hamburger in Olympic.
      Gaijin/gaikokujin san is more polite. gaijin/gaikokujin no kata is more polite. That is all.
      I would recommend to read the comment section on J cast.
    - The Overthinker
      
      Remember the difference between “gaikokujin” and “gaijin.” The former is a neutral statement of “foreigner,” but the latter freequently means “white” (or “western”) person. This is why Japanese abroad can blithely refer to the natives of the UK, for example, as “gaijin” without realising what they are implying. Why when Japanese saw “she’s tall like a gaijin” they are not referring to SE Asians, for example. So by calling Christel “gaijin” there is a clear racial component–her French half. Which is assumed, at least by this arsehole, to swamp her Japanese half. Which has unpleasant connotations of racial purity, which is the real issue here rather than if “gaijin” itself is a rude word. (It is to an extent, of course, as witness its inclusion in the PC list of Words You Can’t Say On TV–which incidentally is why The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie was called The Bells in Japan, as “hunchback” (semushi) is a NG word.)
      
      However let’s not get too carried away with comparisons with words like wog and spic and nigger. “Gaijin” often has a racial component, true, and is exclusionary, but not actually hostile. Japanese who call (white people) “gaijin” aren’t (usually) trying to insult them. No one in the US, for example, is likely to say “I wish I were born a nigger.” So those that argue that they are akin, like our favourite Hokkaido-based stirrer, are talking out their arses.
    - DC
      
      ponta:
      
      I think you realise that ‘gaijin’ often has negative connotations, whereas ‘gaikokukjin’ rarely has.
      
      Another deeper point is that if foreigners object to the word ‘gaijin’, it’s only polite and good manners for the Japanese to refrain from using it. After all, we’re all *guests* in the eyes of the Japanese aren’t we? What sort of society deliberately ignores the sensibilities of its ‘guests’ ?
    - ponta
      
      DC
      
      I think you realise that ‘gaijin’and gaikokujin can be offensive depending on the context just like “foreinger” and “immigrants”.
      Did you read the comment section on J cast?
      
      ”if foreigners object to the word ‘gaijin’, it’s only polite and good manners for the Japanese to refrain from using it.”
      I don’t understand.
      
      “After all, we’re all *guests* in the eyes of the Japanese aren’t we? ”
      You are a guest as long as you don’t participate J society in Japanese just as other Japanese.
      
      “What sort of society deliberately ignores the sensibilities of its ‘guests’ ?”
      What sort of guests deliberately ignore the sensibilities of its host?
    - The Overthinker
      
      Ponta, do you have evidence that DC does not/will not speak Japanese despite living in Japan?
    - ponta
      
      The Overthinker
      I don’t have any evidence, and I am not implying that DC does or does not speak Japanese.
    - The Overthinker
      
      Then who are you referring to with your comments like
      “You are a guest as long as you don’t participate J society in Japanese just as other Japanese.”
      and
      “What sort of guests deliberately ignore the sensibilities of its host?”
      Since they are responses to DC, I assumed they were referring to him. If not, if you are referring to the sort of expat who lives in Japan for years in a “gaijin ghetto” bubble, aside from agreeing with you, I think it should have been made clearer.
    - ponta
      
      The Overthinker
      You as in You shall not kill.
      So “you” may include DC, and I don’t know if he speaks or does not speak Japanese, but as long as he or anybody does not participate in J society in Japanese as other Japanese, he is a guest.
      I am encouraging everyone to participate in J society and work and discuss with the Japanese people in Japanese so that it will be easier for the Japanese to recognize him/her—non traditional type of Japanese— not as a guest, not as gaijin/gaikokujin but as one of us despite how they look.
    - The Overthinker
      
      Okay. It was not clear. And I agree with you about the need to deal with Japan/the Japanese in Japanese.
- ponta
  
  Obviously you haven’t read the comment section on J-cast.
Kraneprot

I know you are just shilling for mygengo, but why don’t you hire some writers who can actually read Japanese. Or at least use the “Ultra” option at mygengo instead of the dirt-cheap back alley 0.01/word translation version it seems like they’ve offered you.
- http://softbanksucks.blogspot.com softbanksucks
  
  Technically, there is no shilling going on here. If James wrote a post praising mygengo, without disclosing his relationship with them, THAT would be shilling.
  - http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey
    
    I signed up for MyGengo and have completed a few translations and been paid. But mygengo’s rates are so low and my other steady clients pay so much more for work of similar difficulty that I’m not motivated to do much work for MyGengo anymore. The rates are -extremely- low. Talented translators will likely only stick with mygengo until they are able to get jobs with real translation houses.
    
    Perhaps if I hit a dry spell and have nothing else to do when a mygengo job comes up I’ll tackle it. Then again, maybe that’s the way they mean for their system to work.
http://softbanksucks.blogspot.com softbanksucks

She wasn’t fired. Her contract simply expired.
- kingofjamos
  
  so there’s a difference?
  more meaningful is when Hasegawa makes his racist (ie. an opinion based on someones race) remark his co host chuckles
  this isnt a remark made on the street or in the privacy of someones home it was made on national television
  that a japanese male feels its necessary to degrade a female co worker in such a way i can only conclude “what a small dick motherfucker” ha ha ha
  - Kevin
    
    Sorry, but you are totally wrong in this matter. Seriously, if you can’t even understand what’s going on in this situation, please don’t comment in this thread.
    
    She was obviously chuckling because she understood how offensive his comment was. You could even say she was laughing because she knew he would get in trouble.
http://ryuganji.blogspot.com Don

Anyone who saw the video and could fully comprehend what was said and shown would know that Hasegawa was touting female announcer Akimoto Yuri, a woman, over her predecessor Takigawa. Therefore “This guy”, “he” and “this fellow” are erroneous translations. If that’s the best mygengo can do, it’s hardly a convincing advertisement for their services.
- http://www.japanprobe.com James
  
  Noted. I’ll forward the complaint to the translator, who may not have been aware of the full context of the quotes I sent in (although I did provide a link to the full Japanese article).
thedaz

After living here for 13 years or more I can definitely say that ‘gaijin’ is used more often by Japanese when they have something negative to say about non-Japanese..when they are conveying a more pleasant message they almost always choose ‘gaikokujin’ or even ‘gaijin-san’ (without being urged).
The Japanese generally seem to understand that gaijin is a term of slander that non-Japanese do not usually enjoy hearing.
Some non-Japanese don’t care, many like myself just often put up with it.I will inform my school students that it is not ‘nice’ but if some village idiot next to me at the bar starts spraffing on ‘gaijin this,gaijin that’ I generally find that the rest of what they say is based on assumed stereotypes and largely ignore them anyway.

oh..and a Japanese can never be gaijin,because gaijin does not mean foreigner..it strictly means non-Japanese (in it’s interpretation by Japanese people)
- Ghaz
  
  Perhaps in its use, as you say, it means non-Japanese, but not according to how it’s written. The first kanji in the word can be read ‘soto’ meaning ‘outside’ and the second naturally means ‘person.’ Thus the kanji for ‘gaijin’ literally reads as ‘outsider’, ‘alien’, ‘foreigner.’
  - The Overthinker
    
    But outside what, is the question. Not “outside my country,” but “outside my people.”
  - DC
    
    Yes, ‘outside person’. So it can be used against someone like Takagawi who obviously isn’t a ‘gaiKOKUjin’, but she’s still *outside* Japanese society due to her race. That was what the racist Hasegawa meant.
    - DC
      
      … and moreover, it seems plenty of 2ch poster know that’s what he meant.
      
      >“Why is he using *discriminatory* language…
      
      >“We can’t forgive that guy for speaking *ill* of..
      
      Case closed on the ‘gaijin’ debate.
    - ponta
      
      “Yes, ‘outside person’. So it can be used against someone like Takagawi who obviously isn’t a ‘gaiKOKUjin’”
      
      Does it mean you can call a dog gaijin? Nonsense.
      Does it mean even outside our people? You can’t say people outside your village gaijin;although you might call him yoso mono.
      
      What people are people outside my people? –Foreingers, gaikokujin, gaijin.
      
      DC, study Japanese and participate in Japanese society in Japanese.
      
      Japanese people got angry at Hasegawa’s comment for one reason because Hasegawa treated her as a foreinger just because her parent was not Japanese, as the one outside of Fuji TV because she is not a regular employee.
      
      You will be the next person to be defended by Japanese people when you are treated differently just because you look different if you participate and work well with other Japanese in Japanese. Good luck.
    - The Overthinker
      
      “You can’t say people outside your village gaijin”
      
      They did originally, IIRC. Way back when. The Heike Monogatari even uses it in a negative way to refer to “enemies”.* It all depends on what the definition of “our people” is. Now that “our people” is seen as “citizens of a nation-state,” the word “gaijin” naturally refers to non-Japanese.
      
      “Does it mean you can call a dog gaijin? Nonsense.”
      
      Ponta, this is not your usual standard. A dog fails the obvious “人” part. Nor is a dog a “someone”.
      
      *That’s in the 広辞苑. Which gives three defs:
      1. Outsider.
      2. Enemy
      3. Short form of “foreigner.”
      In that order, I note.
    - ponta
      
      “They did originally, ”
      Probably , but not anymore.
      
      “A dog fails the obvious “人” part. Nor is a dog a “someone”. ”
      Ops, Sorry I was mistaken. I (mistakenly) thought someone even interpreted outside person as 人の外、人以外.
    - The Overthinker
      
      ”Probably, but not anymore.”
      
      Yes, but my point is that it is still defined by this concept of “outside.”
      
      Incidentally, 人の外 would be “outside A person”; sans the “a” the word “outside” becomes an adjective describing the person.
      人外vs外人….
    - ponta
      
      Okay here are the definitions of gaijin from internet dictionaries.
      外人
      
      大辞林
      ［1］　　　外国人。
      
      ・ ―選手
      
      ・ ―墓地
      ［2］内輪でない人。他人。外部の人。
      
      ・ ―もなき所に兵具をととのへ〔出典：平家 1〕
      大辞泉
      １外国人。特に、欧米人をいう。
      
      ２仲間以外の人。他人。
      
      ・「―もなき所に兵具(ひゃうぐ)をととのへ」〈平家・一〉
      
      I’ve never heard of Japanese call another Japanese person gaijin in a second sense.
      
      And here are the definition of gaikokujin
      
      大辞林
      がいこくじん［ぐわい―］ 4 【外国人】
      「がいこくじん」を大辞泉でも検索する
      
      ［1］他の国家の人民。外人。異国人。
      ⇔内国人
      ［2］日本の国籍をもたない者。法律上の地位は原則として日本人と同一であるが、参政権・工業所有権・出入国など、公法上・私法上の権利を制限されている
      大辞泉　
      がいこく‐じん〔グワイコク‐〕【外国人】
      「がいこくじん」を大辞林でも検索する
      
      その国の国籍を持たない人。外人。法律用語としては、外国の国籍を持つ者と無国籍の者をいう。
      
      outside a person のご説明ありがとうございます。
- ponta
  
  hanakko:gaijin no hito tte sutekine.
  taro:sokanaa? gaikokujin tte niku bakari taberunndaro?
  hanako:gaijin demo saisyokusyugisya ha iruwa
  taro:uwasa wo sureba kage, hora, gaijin-san ga kita
  hanako:yappari gaiji-san tte sutekidawa.
  taro:ha? ano gaikokujn no doko ga iino?
  hana:taro niwa gaijin no yosa wa issyou wakaranaiwa,kitto. Jeemusuu, kocchi muiteee!!!
- Ajapa
  
  The word “Gaijin-san” is not considered offensive, then “Mr. Nip”, “Mr. Jap”, and “Sir Nip” aren’t offensive too? I think it is little more offensive for Japanese to be called “Hey, Mr. Jap” than simply being called “Hey, Jap”. If the word “Gaijin” itself carry a negative meaning, then how can the word “Gaijin-san” lose it’s negative meaning?
  
  I once found someone arguing that “Gaijin” is an offensive word since it is not considered just as a short for “Gaikoku-jin”, a literal translation of “foreigner” or “person of foreign country”. The basis of his argument was concerned with the common usage of “Gai”, e.g., “Gai-sha” and “Gai-ka”. He argued that “Gai” is commonly used as a prefix for representing “outside”, and then he assumed a tendency of Japanese people that they mark everything from outside of Japan with a prefix “Gai” so that they can easily distinguish foreign things from Japanese things. Then, he finally concluded that “Gaijin” is not actually a short for “Gaikoku-jin” but rather is a word of xenophobia originally invented by the xenophobic Japanese people who are eager to keep foreign things distinguishable in preparation for ready exclusion and elimination. He even didn’t know the existense of the word like “Gaikoku-tsuuka” and “Gaikoku-sha”, meaning “foreign currency” and “foreign car” in English.
  
  As a final note, I think, it is “Gaikoku no kata” which sounds more politely as a word denoting “a foreigner”.
  - fg
    
    “….but rather is a word of xenophobia originally invented by the xenophobic Japanese people who are eager to keep foreign things distinguishable in preparation for ready exclusion and elimination. He even didn’t know the existense of the word like “Gaikoku-tsuuka” and “Gaikoku-sha”, meaning “foreign currency” and “foreign car” in English.”
    
    A lot of people say that the Japanese are xenophobic, but I don’t think so. I think the Japanese are selective in what they want for their society (not nation). Exclusion and elimination has not always been the case, actually it’s the oppostie. Sometimes Japanese are very inclusive aren’t they. Actually I’m Japanese so I should say “we”.
    And no Japanese uses the word gaikoku tsuuka, or gaikokusha when they can just abbreviate.
HamachiMan

It reminds me of the term ‘farang’ which may or may not be offensive. It’s kind of weird when some foreigners themselves use the term gaijin to refer to themselves.
- puri
  
  I am Thai myself and I think “farang” is slightly offensive. Some said it is because is has the exact same sound to the name of a fruit. I don’t think so but I just don’t use it.
  - kingofjamos
    
    i read farang means ‘no taste’ because foriengers food had no taste compared to thailands hot and spicy food but i could be wrong
helical

I still believe the word “gaijin” itself isn’t inherently offensive. As many have pointed out, the word itself only has the meaning of “outside person”. However, the inappropriate use of it can be offensive, but what’s offensive isn’t the word itself but the idea expressed by it.
And banning some words and/or forcing a PC euphemism of it won’t make the idea behind it go away, and just leads to overreaction when someone uses the word in an innocuous context. The “word hunts” (言葉狩り) of late have gotten rid of concise words like the “blind” (めくら) and have replaced it by a mouthful like “people with disabled eyes” (目の不自由な人), just because the original word could be used as taunts or insults.

In this instance, this Hasegawa fellow was using it in an inappropriate manner, but that’s only part of the story.
In his attempt to pimp his new colleague Akimoto Yuri who would be taking over Takigawa Christel’s position, he uses こいつ to refer to Akimoto which is a vulgar expression for a newscaster to use in such a context, and simultaneously says she’ll do a much better job because she knows what’s going on unlike that other foreigner (Takigawa), and studies almost as much as he does.
So he leaves himself wide open to a myriad of accusations of vulgarity, in-house favoritism (Takigawa isn’t a Fuji TV employee), racism, and the comeback that this new girl wouldn’t amount to much if she’s only almost capable as Hasegawa.
- steve
  
  “The “word hunts” (言葉狩り) of late have gotten rid of concise words like the “blind” (めくら) and have replaced it by a mouthful like “people with disabled eyes” (目の不自由な人), just because the original word could be used as taunts or insults.”
  
  I was once giving direction to someone in San Francisco. I said, “go straight at the light”
  
  Man, everyone freaked out! “You can’t say that! You have to say ‘GO FORWARD!!!!'” Apparently, I was making negative comments about people’s sexual orientation.
  - Marcus
    
    Not funny, not true.
- Ajapa
  
  Off-topic,
  
  I am often disgusted by English speaking people who use words like “moron”, “idiot”, and “retarded” casually as a pejorative term. They use these words, which had once been employed as medical terms for categorizing mental retardation by psychologists, to describe a person, who does foolish things or looks foolish, with disgust or contempt. I don’t know the degree of offensiveness in the present-day usage of these words at all. However, I think, corresponding words could not have survived “the word hunting”, at least as (non-technical) daily-use terms, in Japan. They can only live in a place like 2-channel nowadays.
  - The Overthinker
    
    Well, words do change their meaning over time, and with it their degree of offensiveness. We don’t have any qualms about referring to a noisy chaotic scene as “Bedlam,” even though that refers to the Bethlem Royal Hospital in England, whereas Wiki neatly sums it up,
    “The word bedlam, meaning uproar and confusion, is derived from its name. Although the hospital is now at the forefront of humane psychiatric treatment, for much of its history it was notorious for cruelty and inhumane treatment – the epitome of what the term “madhouse” connotes to the modern reader.”
    “In the 18th century people used to go to Bedlam to stare at the lunatics. For a penny one could peer into their cells, view the freaks of the “show of Bethlehem” and laugh at their antics, generally of a sexual nature or violent fights. Entry was free on the first Tuesday of the month. Visitors were permitted to bring long sticks with which to poke and enrage the inmates.”
    So not a nice history at all, but one that is almost totally disengaged from the modern meaning–we certainly do not intend to create images of the mentally ill when we use the word “bedlam” these days.
  - http://twitter.com/christaran Kurisu
    
    Word meanings change over time. Also, calling someone retarded or a retard who is acting stupid makes a whole lot of sense to this native English speaker.
  - Ajapa
    
    The Overthinker and Kurisu,
    
    Yes, I understand that word meanings change over time and their degree of offensiveness too. But it somewhat remind me of my first real encounter with “Jap”. It didn’t take so much time to let me understand that it is actually context dependent whether it is accompanied by contempt or not. However, I can’t still measure the reasonably precise amount of an impact on other’s feeling and of the degree of offensiveness, for those words like, “moron”, “idiot”, and “retarded” especially.
    
    Thanks for comments.
    - The Overthinker
      
      Anything can be insulting depending on context. The word “spoon” can be an insult. But while “retarded” might be seen as offensive, “idiot” wouldn’t be, and I doubt “moron” would be either–or at least not more so than the modern common degree of insult.
      
      My first notable encounter with “Jap” was when I started studying the language at high school and referred to it as “Jap” for short. It was *years* later that I first heard it was considered offensive by some….
DC

Even Ishihara now uses ‘gaikokujin’. Hasegawa was deliberately insulting Takigawa due to her ethnic background, since he must have known that she’s not a ‘gaiKOKUjin’. It’s the same as if a western tv announcer had berated a colleague due to their race. It was a slip up which momentarily revealed the deep racism which can lurk beneath the surface in Japan. Good to see many Japanese on 2ch up in arms about it.
- ponta
  
  Even ishihara uses gaikokujin, that means gaikokujin can be offensive depending the context, doesn’t it?
  Do you think if hasegawa said, “This girl, uh, she is also by far more skillful than that foreigner (gaikokujin) who was doing it until recently, you know? is it okay.
  - The Overthinker
    
    The question is, would Hasegawa have done so, or does he distinguish between “gaijin” and “gaikokujin”?
  - DC
    
    >Even ishihara uses gaikokujin, that means gaikokujin can >be offensive depending the context, doesn’t it?
    
    Yes, of course, but he knows that ‘gaijin’ is more offensive, and so refrains from using it.
    
    >Do you think if hasegawa said, “This girl, uh, she is >also by far more skillful than that foreigner >(gaikokujin) who was doing it until recently, you know? >is it okay.
    
    She isn’t a ‘gaikokujin’, she’s a Japanese citizen. So your question is moot. However, had actually been a ‘gaikokujin’, it still would’ve been offensive since he would’ve been implying that a foreigner was incapable of doing the job. As it was, he was implying that a person of non-‘pure’ Japanese ethnicity is incapable of doing the job, which is even worse.
    
    To racists she’s obviously still a ‘gaijin’ – ‘outside’ of Japanese society due to her race.
    - ponta
      
      “Yes, of course, but he knows that ‘gaijin’ is more offensive, and so refrains from using it.”
      Hmmm, I thought you thought for Ishihara, the more offensive the better.
      
      ”
      She isn’t a ‘gaikokujin’, she’s a Japanese citizen. ”
      And she isn’t gaijin either. Nonetheless Hasegawa called her gaijin, that’s one reason posters were angry.
      
      ”
      had actually been a ‘gaikokujin’, it still would’ve been offensive”
      
      wow, gaikokujin is a very convenient word.
      
      “had actually been a ‘gaikokujin’, it still would’ve been offensive since he would’ve been implying that a foreigner was incapable of doing the job.”
      Huh? Do you understand what hasegawa said?
      
      “he was implying that a person of non-’pure’ Japanese ethnicity is incapable of doing the job, which is even worse.”
      Huhhhhh????
    - kate
      
      what part of the previous post didn’t you understand???!!!
The Overthinker

(James: my first post on this topic might be stuck in spam filtering limbo. Could you take a check please? I think it might have triggered that word filter function again….)
Eddie

It’s offensive because she is a Japanese National, not solely because of the word “gaijin”. She’s being referred to as a foreigner even though she has Japanese citizenship – that’s why it’s offensive.
Mister M

I feel sorry for people who dont accept other people because of races or color. Shame on you Fuji TV.
- kate
  
  This issue wasn’t actually about race or color-it’s about nationality and ethnicity- there’s a big difference.
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

First off, why were they talking crap about this woman on TV in the first place?

I am only offended that they called her gaijin bc I thought she was hot. There should be room in the Big Book of Japanese Smiles for someone who looks sort of white.

Clearly the person who said that was trying to be mean and hurtful. My completely groundless theory is she rejected his sexual advances.

I’ll miss seeing her on TV. If they actually let her contract expire because of her exotic appearance (she could have been the target of complaints) then that would be really sad.
kate

The only reason people are offended is the fact that they consider her completely Japanese and he called her a foreigner. It’s rooted in nationalism – on her fan’s side.And we all know nationalism is disgusting.It’s also the reason why you are arguing over it because you consider her Japanese and are offended someone said otherwise.

If he called a foreigner ‘gaijin’ then people wouldn’t be offended. Jun Matsumoto once called a foreign woman ‘gaijin’ on the telly. They showed up to her house and gave her a puppy yet people weren’t offended, it didn’t make the news and you didn’t argue about it.
- Ajapa
  
  I could not find a clip regarding this issue and only had read articles by Yahoo! Japan News and J-Cast News though.
  
  It’s not rooted in nationalism or whatever. You miss various important facts and points. Takigawa, the former newscaster of “News JAPAN” which is aired in midnight and considered serious one, was already famous and having many fans. Hasegawa had degraded her as a result, by underestimating her skill as a newscaster, to flatter or praise the successor to Takigawa’s post, his female collegue Akimoto, in his speech to introduce Akimoto.
  
  Hasegawa’s inadequate and erroneous usage of the word “gaijin” toward Takigawa was combined with the above situation. Also note that it can not be easily believed that Hasegawa could not actually remember Takigawa’s name. Thus, it is also suspected that Hasegawa had used “gaijin” to indicate that Takigawa wasn’t a person worth remembering, so he might have intended to call her just by a her obvious characteristic. He would have used “that woman” if he were more careful, but in this case he might have been accused of sexist or misogynist instead of xenophobe by raged Takigawa’s fans. He’d better use “person of 45 degree angle”.
RMilner

Simply calling a Japanese national a gaijin is not an insult, it is merely a gauche error. It is as if I spoke to an oriental looking person in London and assumed they were Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese when they might easily be English, French or American.

The insult comes from the fact that it was inferred that Miss Takigawa was not good at her job because she is a gaijin.

Nothing was said about her professional skills or those of the new reporter who it is said will improve the quality of reporting.

The argument was based on Takigawa being “not properly Japanese”. This clearly classes gaijin as inferior which is a blatantly racist attitude.

The 2Chan comments recognise this insult.
fg

I liked the angle Christel looked into the camera. That was new.
Hope she didn’t have to go get her backbone straightened.
Ajapa

Some points which might be important for the debate.

In the original Yahoo! Japan News article, there are several “facts” which might have not yet been mentioned here:

1. The program was aired live.
2. The content of this program was just a ridiculous entertainment by “announcers” from Fuji-TV, and was supposed to be very exciting by participants’ chats, talks full of digression, and honest, outspoken, and frank talks.
3. Hasegawa was on the way to introduce various his female colleagues.
- The Overthinker
  
  How does that change things?
  - Ajapa
    
    My implication is:
    
    If Hasegawa’s comment had not been scripted, it was just his personal comment. Hence, producer, editor, and other Fuji TV cable program stuffs were not responsible for broadcasting his “gaijin” comment. Blaming Fuji TV on this issue is not really appropriate. Also, this personal incident should not be generalized to the Japanese social problem easily.
    
    The situation was not good for Hasegawa. It is obvious if all the above three facts are taken into account. These facts suggest that Hasegawa could not be discreet and well-prepared but rather he must have lowered his moral and ethical standard since the program was intended to be just a ridiculous show of indiscreet chat. He would have not made such a comment for introducing Akimoto if he were in more serious program or even in usual news show in lazy afternoon. He was just not quick-witted so much.
    
    I mentioned on that to prevent people jumping to conclusions suggesting immaturity of the Japanese society or whatever else too easily. Statements of drunken persons and people being high at the party can not be a good measure of maturity of the society.
    - James Watt
      
      Excellent points, Ajapa. That’s exactly how I felt when I heard about this.
      
      This is one man. He does not speak for the entire country. Sure, he’s a dumb-ass, but nothing else can be inferred from his comment but that he’s a dumb-ass.
    - The Overthinker
      
      Okay. I never thought it was anything but unscripted and impromptu, however. But its use in such a situation, where it is more likely to reflect the speaker’s true feelings, is precisely what is significant about this. It’s his 本音 if you like.
    - The Overthinker
      
      “nothing else can be inferred from his comment”
      
      No, we can wonder why we chose this word, and what this word means to him. It is true that he is not representative of all Japan, but then it is equally false to claim his conception of the word is necessariy unique. Otherwise there would be little point in saying it. I’m not interested in this one comment per se, but in how the Japanese conceptualize the Other, as represented by the word “gaijin.”
    - Ajapa
      
      I should have clarified my stance first. I had not intended to defend Hasegawa at all. I, personally, felt that Hasegawa had overrun the permissible line somewhat, and I think Hasegawa should have apologized on this issue by himself since I think it is nothing but him that is nearly completely responsible to this issue. However, as I do not know if there were any friendship between Hasegawa and Takigawa, and I can never know how he think about her actually, so I can’t say it really reflects his “本音”, a frank opinion, or whatever else. It may depend on atmosphere and various other subtle things at that time. Anyway, one clear fact is that Hasegawa did a wrong thing. He could not manage a subtle balance as a host of that program.
    - Ajapa
      
      An additional point on my previous reply to The Overthinker.
      
      If we are going to dive into the discussion of his “本音”(honne) issue, I think, then we should consider about seriousness of his opinion, attitude, and interest toward Takigawa. We can not infer something solely from an ad hoc disposable statement. In my opinion, the word or the concept of “本音”usually refer to the opinion or intention, usually hidden within one’s mind, regarding things which is sometimes persistent and/or usually taken seriously. We don’t have any “本音”on uninterested issue usually. Hence, if Hasegawa actually had not cared much about Takigawa, his statement should not be considered as “本音”about, at least, Takigawa. However, it is still possible that his frank opinion, “本音”, about “foreigner-looking” people was revealed, but, in my opinion, it is rather his “本性” (real nature/true character) which had been revealed in this incident. To mention more clearly, Hasegawa might be basically ignorant, insensitive, or uninterested to racial issue, issue of the minority peoples, and such.
pixel_bomber

When I hear the term gaijin used I understand that it is not always intended as an insult. But it certainly can be used as one.

I think this has already been covered somewhat here but the problem I have is that in Japan you are either Japanese or not Japanese. People rarely refer to you bt your nationality or race or some other characteristic. Growing up in a multicultural society I always assumed someone was American unless they told me otherwise or I had some way to know. In Japan if you do not look Japanese you are simply called not Japanese and many times this can feel negative. I usually refer to people by their nationality or race. I think it just offers a bit more respect and feels more like you view this person as an equal. If I went around calling people not Americans it would feel like I were talking down on them as if Americans were better than other people. Maybe its just the “not” part that bugs me and feels alienating.

So Japan is a different culture and people speak in a different fashion. I’m willing to accept it when someone tells me they don’t intend the term to be racist, but the initial gut reaction I get is that it is simply from my own culture. I’m beyond letting it bother me, but if anyone asks I always offer my side of it. Most people are pretty understanding (unlike some of the posters here).
G-chan

I’m curious. You almost never hear the term “auslander” in Germany unless it is used by fascists (e.g. “Auslander Raus!”).

Germans call foreigners their country of origin. Americans, American. French, French. British, British…

I’m American. I’ve never been to Japan. Would I be referred to as American there or instead by the term “gaijin”?

Trying to figure out why the broad term and not the specific. Perhaps someone on here living in Japan or a Japanese national could answer this…
- helical
  
  Unless the person speaking knows your nationality beforehand, you would normally be referred to as a “gaijin” or a “gaikokujin” in most discourses. But then again, I have a feeling that would be the case in any country, though the exact phrasing probably varies from culture to culture.
  
  Once your nationality is known, some might care enough to use it to refer to you. But as it’s been mentioned here in other comment threads before, the proportion of foreigners present in the country is still small enough that the catch-all term of “foreigner” sufficies in most cases, and many people may go on living without encountering a situation when correct identification of someone’s nationality is really that important.
  
  So you still might be referred to as a “gaijin” out of habit of the speaker without any intentional disrespect.
- Ajapa
  
  In a little special situation…
  
  Suppose that a German was just introduced to his neighbors, ordinary Japanese people, in Japan. If his nationality is a very strong characteristic to his neighbors, then they might use his nationality to refer to him, like, “Ah, I can’t remember his name,…that Doitsu-jin…”, where Doitsu (Deutch) means Germany and hence Doitsu-jin means German person. After he is enough familiarized with them, his neighbors may start to call him with his name. However, he might be nicknamed as “Doitsu-san”, if being a German is so appealing to his neighbors.
NINJET

I just arrive from Tokyo, Japan and I missed the news!
Max

Japanese do not call gaijin other Asians
It is a pure racist term
- fg
  
  You just have never met a Japanese who call another Asian gaijin. I’m a Japanese, and I call other Asians gaijin, when it is appropriate to call someone gaijin.
  
  I believe if someone calls you a gaijin, it means that you are “in pending.”
  
  That means you are suspect as someone outside of our social norms, and we don’t really know if your good or bad, what kind of person you are, so we don’t really know how to treat you.
  
  Some react by just denying your humanity, some just shun you off, while others look at you with curiosity and awe, and there are even others that excuse you from all the protocols and etiquette that is usually required to live as an adult in Japan.
  
  I’ve been called a gaijin from my Japanese peers many times, because I grew up in the US and did some things differently than other Japanese.
kingofjamos

kevin
cnn asia october 1st
The Japanese net’s favorite YouTube clip of the moment: announcer Yutaka Hasegawa referring on air to famed half-French, half-Japanese female announcer Christel Takigawa as a ‘foreigner’ (gaijin).
The female announcer to Yutaka Hasegawa gives an incriminating chuckle when he makes his infamous statement
can you follow what’s going on now? the statement was made to ridicule and belittle a former employee based on her racial background.
its not whether he used gaijin gaijkokugin or foriegner but why he alluded to her place of origin in the first place.
sdbri

Pretty ridiculous considering she’s not a foreigner. It would be the same as calling Namie Amuro (also half) a gaijin. Makes absolutely no sense – unless you’re a racist. This doesn’t even enter the realm of “is gaijin a derogatory word for foreigners” because she’s not a foreigner to begin with. She’s Japanese.
- RMilner
  
  Simply calling a Japanese national a gaijin is not an insult, it is merely a gauche error. It is as if I spoke to an oriental looking person in London and assumed they were Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese when they might easily be English, French or American.
  
  The insult comes from the fact that it was inferred that Miss Takigawa was not good at her job because she is a gaijin.
  
  Nothing was said about her professional skills or those of the new reporter who it is said will improve the quality of reporting.
  
  The argument was based on Takigawa being “not properly Japanese”. This clearly classes gaijin as inferior which is a blatantly racist attitude.
  
  The 2Chan comments recognise this insult.
http://www.achikule.com apeescape

I don’t want to smother the details of this discussion, but can’t we first just say that there is a difference of opinion (見解相違) in what “racism” is for each culture (American and Japanese)? In diverse America, we were pounded in grade school how bad racism is, and how its adverse effects persisted through history. We also interacted (well, at least if you live near the coast) with various cultures to establish the ability detect the “various shades of gray” of foreigners. In Japan, you don’t have that luxury or the interest. I remember a discontinued commercial by a Japanese cell-phone company (rival to SoftBank) that showed a monkey as their mascot making a “Presidential” speech (i.e. Obama) and the African-Americans went apeshit (oops). When you ask the Japanese crowd about it, they thought the commercial was cute (monkey) and cool (Obama). Why should one care about racism when it isn’t as prevalent?

But of course I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. I think gaijin is a word that has wide connotations (and continually being disused since some of the connotations are negative). Some people simply use gaijin because he/she is lazy to say gaikokujin (kind of like whites vs. Caucasians or nihonjin vs. nihon no kata), or the word (gaikokujin) is too formal for the context. I think in this TakiKuri case, it is racist to call her (a Japanese nonetheless) a gaijin as the main factor for her quitting — a complete BS statement.

Not to defend the dude announcer (who is kind of a prick), but I think it is also true that many Japanese feel “different” from other cultures. Just talk to a Japanese working overseas and you could easily have a heated topic. One can write a whole book on this, but generally speaking, the bigger the cultural and language difference, the tendency to categorize as the “other” (immigrants = Mexicans anyone?). Maybe it’s true that the Japanese are more segregating in their language, but not necessary racist in an American context (if you get my gist).

Also, one person said gaijin was used more for non-Asians. I think this is true partly for cultural difference stuff that I mentioned but also because of the strong presence (and derivative political problems) of the Zainichi Koreans and illegal Chinese. You’re sort of forced to specify the Asian descent when speaking of Asian foreigners. My 2 cents.

Disclaimer: I’m American and Japanese.
- RMilner
  
  All cultures are different. There are noticeable cultural differences between people from London and from Liverpool, two cities only about 200 miles apart in the UK.
  
  The same way, there are cultural differences between Kansai and Kanto people in Japan.
  
  The unpleasant suspicion is that — to generalise grossly — Japanese people regard themselves as different to and better than foreigners, in a kind of race-nationalistic way. And this was the basis of the insulting comment about Miss Takigawa.
  
  Obviously, racist and nationalist feelings are present in all countries. Sadly, humans are prone to such feelings due to our psychology.
jikku

Do people who think 外人 (gaijin) is an derogatory word also think 外車 (gaisha)、外資 (gaishi)、外貨 (gaika) are offensive words too?
- James Watt
  
  I think 外食 is a horrible word.
- The Overthinker
  
  You’ll have to ask the cars and food and so on what they think.
  - jikku
    
    外食 means “eating out” though. It’s not a shortened form of 外国食品 (foreign food).
anti

外務省 is a cruel word too:) Anyhow, I think gaikokujin is better to use and that gaijin as a word is getting out of style. When some random person refers to me as a gaijin, I do get slightly offended. Gaijin-san or gaikoku no kata is nicer. In this case here, it was highly insulting. Being haafu myself, I find Christel Takigawa to be hot！I love this woman!!

I am now apartment hunting and going to all these “fudosanya” and I do encounter some problems because I am not Japanese but I speak fluent Japanese. 日本語は普通に話せるが、ちょっと大変です。 Some places are kind of reluctant to rent out to non japanese but those are the places I ignore, thats all I can do. Thankfully it seems as if the majority are against discrimination and do not discriminate towards me. Not sure about others but. We live in Obama days, racial discrimination should be something of the past. 人種差別は時代遅れ。
jonholmes

So Hasegawa defines nationality as race, or half race, not by birth, upbringing, language or culture.

Thus, he is a racist.
T-rock

They say Hafu is also negative as well
Saying it`s offensive connotation
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Max-Withpains/100002500965998 Max Withpains
  
  LOL I wish i’ve been called Half. People have no clue….OL

Controversy after TV host calls Christel Takigawa a “gaijin”

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