Use of the word 'Jap' - is it offensive?

[Anime Dad]

That was directed at ganmo-chan, regarding her particular situation. I wouldn't recommend that Japanese-Americans go about saying that to people, like you said, it would be asking for a fight

[alfarez]

OOooo...i didnt even know such an offensive term for Japanese exists, even with Filipino and Vietnamese. I only know the offensive term for African. This site really opens my eyes. Since i join this site, i just use "Japanese" and it is not difficult to write and say it.

A lesson i learn for today...Think before you do (and say).

[ganmo]

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LOL! Only for the HP fans. Everyone else just thinks I have a screw loose.

Everyone thinks that way about me...

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On topic....... hang in there ladies, try to ignore the bigots and embrace your uniqueness

Thanks Anime Dad...

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That was directed at ganmo-chan, regarding her particular situation. I wouldn't recommend that Japanese-Americans go about saying that to people, like you said, it would be asking for a fight

There have been many punches thrown when the word was used, it's only natural to feel angry when one is confronted with a racial slur. In my case, I'm only 4'10"...I won't go throwing punches if someone calls me a Jap...I'll glare and maybe say something or if the situation looks like I won't win...I'll just glare and walk away from the confrontation. I would definitely not just stand there and smile like an idiot and not react in any way (like that bigot had implied in his BS about how we could just stand there and smile while thinking I'm from the greatest civilations, yadda yadda...BS...).

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OOooo...i didnt even know such an offensive term for Japanese exists, even with Filipino and Vietnamese. I only know the offensive term for African. This site really opens my eyes. Since i join this site, i just use "Japanese" and it is not difficult to write and say it. A lesson i learn for today...Think before you do (and say).

alfarez...I'm glad you feel this way...thanks very much!

[alfarez]

Sensitivity really affects our emotion. how serious? when you say any offensive term in a place where the terms is strictly forbid, just try to figure out how long you can live after you say those word because there are some places in the world that may be dangerous when you say those offensive terms (might costs your life). Would you dare to say those offensive term in such places? Now do you understand how serious sensitivity would be?

I am not Japanese. I am Malay. But i dont like to make friend with those who ignore sensitivity of other races. I hope "tsuyoshi13" will read this, after i read most of his posts.

[thtl]

alfarez wrote:

Sensitivity really affects our emotion. how serious? when you say any offensive term in a place where the terms is strictly forbid, just try to figure out how long you can live after you say those word because there are some places in the world that may be dangerous when you say those offensive terms (might costs your life). Would you dare to say those offensive term in such places? Now do you understand how serious sensitivity would be?

I'd like to add a few words here, if I may. One's own ethnicity, and even nationality, is a matter of pride and principles. Personally I don't use racial words not because I'm afraid of a fight, but because I don't want to insult a person's ethnic background, especially since he/she was born into it and wasn't given a choice.

For instance I take great pleasure in insulting Georgie (Bush) but won't try to insult Americans in general.

alfarez has outlined what I see as the 'practical' side of this discussion. I just want to add a 'principle' side to it.

[alfarez]

alfarez wrote:

Sensitivity really affects our emotion. how serious? when you say any offensive term in a place where the terms is strictly forbid, just try to figure out how long you can live after you say those word because there are some places in the world that may be dangerous when you say those offensive terms (might costs your life). Would you dare to say those offensive term in such places? Now do you understand how serious sensitivity would be?

I post this message not because i am angry. I am not angry at all. So dont get me wrong for those who do. hehe! The reasons are... I just to explain how to respect other races and dont simply use offensive terms and debate about it, ignoring others' senses. people love their race. and of course we proud of our race. if we dont know how to respect other races, thats mean we offend them.It seems like amusing the race that they proud of. Therefore, we are not ready to mix with them.

[maruneko_naya]

thtl wrote:

I'd like to add a few words here, if I may. One's own ethnicity, and even nationality, is a matter of pride and principles. Personally I don't use racial words not because I'm afraid of a fight, but because I don't want to insult a person's ethnic background, especially since he/she was born into it and wasn't given a choice. For instance I take great pleasure in insulting Georgie (Bush) but won't try to insult Americans in general. alfarez has outlined what I see as the 'practical' side of this discussion. I just want to add a 'principle' side to it.

Thank you both for sharing your thoughts and mostly for your support.
I am Japanese-American and I can tell you first hand that words can hurt and scar someone deeply. I was called this term many times throughout my life growing up, and even to this day, I still cringe when I hear this word.

There was so much prejudice and disdain for the Japanese after WWII. Many people still blamed the Japanese-Americans for what happened in Pearl Harbor, when we had nothing to do with it. Personally, my father fought in the war for the U.S., so it was particularly hurtful to hear someone call me a J*p.

But, that was a long time ago, and I'm soooo happy to know that some people aren't even aware that this is a negative term.

Thank you JDorama.com for your response to this issue by changing your website address. Kudos to you for your show of support.

Maru

[kokakola]

does the younger generation know about this word and find it offensive too? because i didn't know that we the chinese are called chinks until today.

but i will not use this word again...thanks for telling.

[dee8o8]

im japanese, and honestly i dont care if someone calls me Jap , regardless if its meant to be an attack or not.
my reaction is , yes im japanese.. very observant of you. i dont care.. i love being japanese. i love my culture.call me a jap! i wont take it offensively. people make like its something to be ashamed of.. its not like jap means anything derrogatory.. .so why get offended?
$.02

[shin2]

dee8o8 wrote:

im japanese, and honestly i dont care if someone calls me Jap , regardless if its meant to be an attack or not. my reaction is , yes im japanese.. very observant of you. i dont care.. i love being japanese. i love my culture.call me a jap! i wont take it offensively. people make like its something to be ashamed of.. its not like jap means anything derrogatory.. .so why get offended? $.02

First of all, I don't think anyone on this thread has said being of Japanese ancestry is something to be ashamed of. As a sansei, I know of no Japanese-Americans who aren't proud of their heritage, and I doubt any native Japanese is ashamed of being nihonjin. Judging from your comments, I am guessing you are fairly young. The reason I think this is because this word has a long history, and I am constantly surprised that many younger nikkei do not know how racially charged this word is. The term is and has been used in a derogatory way. Ask your parents or your jitsu-chan or obaa-chan if you don't think it's not derogatory. And since you're from Hawaii, you should know about the history of the 100th Battalion. Ask those WWII veterans about the derogatory nature of the word. The fact that you don't find it offensive or don't mind it being directed at you is certainly your prerogative, and if you're not bothered by it, more power to you. But that doesn't mean the word hasn't in the past and isn't in the present used to degrade, offend, and attack people of Japanese ancestry, maybe not all of the time, but certainly a lot of the time.

[Hanzo21]

This is kind of off-topic, but too funny to keep quiet about.

About 17 years ago I invited this Japanese girl over to my mom and dad's house for vacation. We visited everywhere including dad's office. Somebody said, "There's a little nip in the air."

Dad got real mad and told the guy to cool it about the "nip" talk. My girlfriend didn't understand what was going on until it was explained to her later that night at the dinner table. She thought it was cute that Americans referred to Japanese people as "nips".

You know, even to this day I still don't know if she actually got it. But the subject was dropped that many years ago.

[bmwracer]

dee8o8 wrote:

im japanese, and honestly i dont care if someone calls me Jap , regardless if its meant to be an attack or not. my reaction is , yes im japanese.. very observant of you. i dont care.. i love being japanese. i love my culture.call me a jap! i wont take it offensively. people make like its something to be ashamed of.. its not like jap means anything derrogatory.. .so why get offended? $.02

That's all well and good, but why don't you ask other Japanese people around you like your parents and/or relatives and see how they feel about it?

I'll bet they have a different take on it.

If you love being Japanese and the culture, you should also remember that you're also a Japanese-American and you should respect all the history that goes along with that... And that being called a "Jap" is unacceptable.

[kyon-kyon chan]

just for side information..as for my language (malay).. jap means wait..

we pronounced the 'a' juz like you said aaaaaaa..

[marmar]

wow i never knew it that "j*p" was offensive. I'm sorry because for the longest time I have been saying that for short for Japanese because I get tired of typing out the Japanese so i shorten it down to make it easier for me.
but I never knew it was offensive.

I am so sorry. I'll won't say it again..I'll just say Jdrama or Jmusic...instead of J*p...so sorry.

[setfree]

Well im straight now but lemme tell you about black-japanese conversation:
--------ON the bus---------
Black guy: Hey are you japanese?
Jap girl: *gulp*
Black guy: Hey excuse me are you japanese?
Jap girl: ye..yess. i am
Black guy: wow! hey im looking for a language partner! would you like to be mine?
Jap girl: Sure!
Black guy: OK! great! finally! well here's my number, call me and we can get together ok?
Jap girl: ok! thank you! bye!
the black guy never gets a call from her, and the girl avoids that particular time bus for the next 3 weeks.
----------3 weeks later-------------
Black guy: Hey! do you remember me?
Jap Girl: huh?


ladies and gents thats the way it goes basically between blacks and japanese in san diego. now lets turn the scenario to school ya?

---------College Campus!---------
Black guy: Hey!
Jap girl: Kyaaaa!!!
Black guy: woah woah! im sorry did i scare you?
Jap girl: a little bit..sorry. =\
Black guy: you serious? I walked up to you from the front not from behind you..
Jap girl: Oh..you did didnt you.
Black guy: yeah...uh anyways i noticed youre learning english, and im learning japanese atm, maybe sometime we can learn from eachother or something?
Jap girl: yea! of course!
Black guy: Ok! well here's my number, just call me and we can go study ok?
Jap girl: ok! bai bai!
Black guy: PEACE.

the guy never sees the japanese girl again.

This is about as close as japanese people get with blacks in my city. Dont gimme that "japanese are shy" nonsense. the truth of the matter is that japanese are incredibly racist people especially against people of color. You guys think small talk like the ones matnioned above are bad? Man you should try and imagine a black guy asking a girl out using "amai kotoba" which is basically every word that comes outta our mouths according to japanese girls. i dont know who told them this crap, but jap girls are really cautious around us. and by us i mean colored people. not just blacks.
I straight up gave up on japanese people after i experienced some of the most extreme racism ive faced in my life. it all started after i decided to begin learning about japanese and the language. Lucky for me i met one that wasn't such a complete f%$#face. Now with my girl by my side, and my new motivation, im going to finish mastering this language to go and talk sense to those fools everywhere i see em. nam sayin? lettem know that once you go black you DONT GO BACK

[monta]

oh my....
_________________

[bmwracer]

setfree wrote:

Well im straight now but lemme tell you about black-japanese conversation:

Uh, if you're gonna talk about racism (and this is the wrong thread, BTW), need I say it yet again: it's Japanese, not Jap.

[setfree]

you're right man! Japanese girls are cool i admit that. Many of them that have a chance to come to america you kind of get the feeling that they are exremely talented or smart, have big goals, and have much to teach! But those friendly attitudes are actually fake feelings that are used very often in japan towards almost all people. Knowing that, as a man of color, it is hard to tell when they are being true.
_____________________________________________________________And no actually this is the right thread to discuss this, because im sharign with you guys the root cause as to why our relations with japanese or asians for that matter is so weak. its not a culture difference at all, because we all know how much asians have embraced hip hop culture in america. Its not bling and gold teeth..thats a style for certain blacks in specific parts of the world, not all blacks, its like saying that asians all do kung fu. its limited to specific areas of the world. There are some blacks even that have never heard of those fads. MY POINT is, that somewhere along the line, blacks became villains to asian people worldwide and I kind of discovered this over the course of my asian studies. I'm black, I'm 6'4'' and I played basketball for my college. Im studying medicine and Japanese is my minor, I've never had "gold teeth" or anything, but i like hip hop, so i dress urban. It doesn't mean I would stab an asian girl if i saw them. im saying that judgement of blacks by asians is skin deep and thats it.

and really, Jap is not a racist word at all...Ive heard racist words in my time and whoever proclaimed jap as racist is a moron. to many of my friends that are into japanese culture, jap is just short for japanese, fellas. Look, i dont know why im being flamed here once again for telling you guys whats really goin down. Some people, just dont have cute or romantic stories to share, but actually give you guys deeper insights into the culture you might not have known about

[Anime Dad]

setfree, just because YOU don't think that "Jap" isn't racist or offensive doesn't mean it isn't. It's been discussed many times on here before. Ignorance of the term being considered racist is one thing - and I was probably guilty in that case years ago - but it's been pointed out to you already. It would be like someone calling you a n***** (not going to use the word, but you know what I mean). Imagine if I started posting in a forum that was about African-american culture, and after telling everyone I was white, started dropping the n-word? Hmmmm.

Also, did you ever consider that those Japanese girls weren't being racist, but were just not interested? Or even were a bit scared of you? You said it yourself: You're a 6'4" black guy, probably appear a bit intimidating to a little Japanese girl Jeez, I would probably be intimidated a bit too, if some random guy who is a foot taller than me started asking me questions out of the blue.

I'm not saying that there are no racist Japanese. Just don't label them all racist as a race.

[bmwracer]

setfree wrote:

and really, Jap is not a racist word at all...Ive heard racist words in my time and whoever proclaimed jap as racist is a moron.

Well fucking shit, since YOU say it isn't racist then I guess it isn't, ne????


This discussion is way off topic... Move it over to the "Why the word 'Jap' is offensive" thread or else end the discussion here.