Quote Originally Posted by Mars Man
There appears to be a problem with this poll; the answers are from the speaker/user point of view. Can we really know that? Or is this a poll of how we intend it when and if we use that term?
I want to know how non-Japanese feel about being called "gaiijn" based on they think is intended to mean.

I have asked many Japanese what they meant by "gaijin" and the answer are often very different. So for this poll, choose all the meaning you have encountered. It doesn't have to be a meaning shared by all Japanese, as many have different opinions about the actual meaning or connotation of "gaijin".

I questioned them about whether they called themselves "gaijin" while abroad, but usually they don't. In fact, I remember that both times I went to China with a Japanese tour, the Japanese people in the group frequently referred to the local Chinese as "gaijin", eventhough they were the foreigners in China. That is mostly why I cannot accept the translation "foreigner" as it rather means "non-Japanese".

I also know it's not about being an ethnic Japanese, as Japanese Americans, Japanese Brazilians, etc. are almost always called "gaijin".

That's why I feel most strongly that it means "outsider to Japanese society, culture and customs" OR "physically different".