I think Japanese people are trying to be polite by saying gaikokujin instead of gaijin but, even though I’ve never been called a gaijin (& have even been mistaken for a Hāfu), I’d personally rather just be called gaijin for several reasons.
Gaijin Is Not Particularly Insulting or Offensive Overseas
Even if there was a truly mean Japanese person who wanted to insult foreigners, no foreigners would particularly be offended to be called “gaijin” since it just means “non-Japanese person” to us. Gaijin know we’re gaijin. That’s why there are countless websites, social media accounts and services which utilise the word gaijin. I refer to myself as gaijin. I refer to other gaijin as gaijin, & all of them do the same. I don’t think I’ve ever heard another gaijin say gaikokujin instead of just gaijin.
No One Outside of Japan Knows What “Gaikokujin” Means
Even coming to Japan with more than a fair bit of Japanese language skills, I never even heard of this term before coming here.
Kanji Readings & the Lack of Foreigners’ Comprehension of Them May Actually Make Gaikokujin MORE Offensive Than Gaijin
As stated above, almost no one overseas knows what gaikokujin means. Most know gaijin as “foreigner” while some might know kokujin as black person or African. However, unless someone knows that the readings of 国 & 黒 are both koku but have very different meanings, their minds might construct something like 「外黒人」which is far worse. I’m not a black person & I don’t want to be called one 😂 I’d much rather be called a gaijin than a black guy.
Conclusion
Basically, use gaijin or gaikokujin freely as you wish, but just take these things into account. Again, even a truly hateful person trying to hurt foreigners’ feelings by calling them gaijin would fail to offend anyone in doing so.
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