You know there are times that I read threads like this and get the impression that people are truly misunderstanding the use of the term in most situations.

Some posters are out to make it sound like there is some huge conspiracy among the Japanese public to be racist towards all gaijin and that the use of the word perpetuates that racism.

In my experience here it all depends on the person and HOW it is used. Let's say a 6yr old kid runs up to you on the street point a finger at you and says; Ehh gaijin-da! Are you going to accuse that kid of being a racist? Come on now.

Ok another example, you are shopping in the local grocery store and an elderly obaa-chan looks at you, smiles and says; Konnichiwa gaijin-san!, Is she being racist? I think not.

Of course everyone could come up with examples to counter that and I have heard of pretty much all of them in my time here, so dont start saying what about this case or that, I used those as examples only.

There is no underlying mystery about the people or the word, there is no conspiracy about it's use as well. People from foreign countries that come here or live here in Japan have become IMO overly sensitive to it's use, because they don't like being thought of as being outsiders, which in most cases is the case.

Once the shoe is on the other foot people complain. You want to call me gaijin, fine I dont care, I will call you one back too if I see you here in Japan.

So what it isn't that big of a deal. I think that people need to get the chip off their shoulders and worry about more important things in life like whether or not Japan is going to be able to continue on to the second round in the WC and if they (surly) dont, if Zico should be fired or not. Now that is a better topic to discuss, IMO.