Question:
I'm studying abroad in Japan and recently visited a pretty small city called Onomichi for a day trip. They almost never see foreigners so I got a lot of stares and a few people randomly saying hello to me and stuff. One thing that bugged me was that a few people called me "gaijin-san." For example, one person asked me to take a group photo for them and when one Japanese person said he could do it, they said "Oh, it's okay, gaijin-san can take it." and afterward they had a short conversation with me. I heard the term gaijin-san a couple other times that day too. I never hear it in the larger cities, so it caught me off guard.
I had heard that gaikokujin is considered to be more polite and that gaijin is considered to be rude. However "-san" is respectful. So, were they being condescending or not?
Answer:
It's like saying "Mr. outsider ". Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Impolite or not depends on how it was said.
No comments:
Post a Comment