BIT.TRIP Dev Gaijin Games Changes Name to Avoid Racial Slur

[Hazy992]

I never knew about the word 'gaijin' but it's cool that they've changed the name of their company to be a little more sensitive.

Choice Provisions is a shit name though. It doesn't sound game related, it sounds like an IT company or something.

 

[Glaice]

I think the dev is just being way too PC over this if you ask me.

 

[Porygon-2000]

I'll admit, I thought gaijin was the correct word to use, literally just meaning foreigner. If I may ask, what is the PC term in Japan for a foreign national?

 

[Hellz_Barz]

Whenever I've talked to Japanese people on the internet and they word gaijin in brought up they always tell me its not meant to be offensive it's simply just the word for someone who's foreign. I don't understand why people are taking offense over this?

 

[Korskarn]

To put it to you this way - as a foreigner living in Japan, a Japanese person would never call me gaijin to my face, unless he was looking for a fight.

Wut? I lived in Japan for 3 years and I was called "gaijin" to my face by practically everyone. It can be used as a perjorative, but most of the time it's just "non-Japanese".

 

[michael87cn]

That new name isn't doing it for me. I think they must be pretty bad at coming up with these. Then again, I'm not exactly a pro myself... herp derp real name on a forum...

 

[Eve Charm]

I get wanting to be PC ((wondering if they finally saw Fast and the furious Tokyo drift or something)) But it's a bit of a shot in the foot if people are reporting "Hey the bit trip runner guys changed their name to be less offensive. if people know them by their name before at least.

 

[derping_muffins]

The term is often just translated as "barbarian".

It doesn't bother me that much; for a developer who does a lot of pixel-art games that hearken back to the eight-bit era (when Japanese companies ruled the field), calling oneself "gaijin" just seems kind of jocularly irreverent. But I can see how others might be offended.

Sure, if you're reading Sankaku Complex or lurk /jp/ or /a/.

Gaijin could mean outsider (gai = outside) while gaikokujin would be something along the lines of a foreigner (gaikoku = foreign country). The difference between those two is that the former is more general and could be used to indicate exclusion of an individual (eg. from society).

For that matter, the original slur for Westerners arriving in Japan was nanbanjin which does mean "southern barbarian."

To put it to you this way - as a foreigner living in Japan, a Japanese person would never call me gaijin to my face, unless he was looking for a fight.

Wut? I lived in Japan for 3 years and I was called "gaijin" to my face by practically everyone. It can be used as a perjorative, but most of the time it's just "non-Japanese".

This. I've never met other gaijin who would be offended by that term.

 

[The_Echo]

外人 (outside person) isn't even a racial slur. It can be used as a pejorative, but it's not offensive by default.

It's really just an informal form of the word 外国人 (foreign-country person), though some people even go as far as using 外国の方.

Japanese is a high-context language, so you should be able to understand the intent of the phrase.

Also, "Choice Provisions" is kind of a weird name. Makes me think it's a food company or something.

 

[Steven Bogos]

I'll admit, I thought gaijin was the correct word to use, literally just meaning foreigner. If I may ask, what is the PC term in Japan for a foreign national?

From the article:

For a little background, the word "gaijin" comes from the Japanese "gai koku jin" - which translates to "outside country person," or foreigner.

"Gai koku jin" is the more PC term.

You know I had all the translations pasted in here and wondered why anyone would get miffed over such an ordinary word, but then realized we are on the internet and what would people be doing with their time if not pretend to be offended...

P.S. You are all potatoes. Ya I said it!

I don't think you understand how racial slurs work. The word "******" is derived from "negro" which literally translates to "black". Calling someone black, or a "negro" is not inherently offensive, but I doubt you would call a black man a negro to his face.

Japan is a very exclusive society, with over 97% of it's population being native born Japanese. Thus, you can see how calling someone an "outsider" can be offensive, particularly to those of say, Korean or Chinese descent who have been living in Japan for several generations.

It's similar to calling Mexicans "illegals" in America - the term implies that they are outsiders who are not welcome in "your" country.

Hope this helps you understand.

 

[Steven Bogos]

Wut? I lived in Japan for 3 years and I was called "gaijin" to my face by practically everyone. It can be used as a perjorative, but most of the time it's just "non-Japanese".

This. I've never met other gaijin who would be offended by that term.[/quote]

I'm assuming you are a white, westerner. The term can be particularly offensive to Chinese and Korean Japanese, especially their kids who are of mixed race. You can imagine how it can be offensive to these kinds of people, who despite often being born and raised in Japan, can spend their whole lives trying to fit in to Japan's incredibly exclusive society.

 

[Dragonlayer]

Well we have to avoid the possibility of offending anyone. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go play some Gender Neutral Pac Person.

Oh you filthy disgusting racist: Pac Person is yellow! As in the racial slur for Asians! TURN YOURSELF IN IMMEDIATELY OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!

OT

Gaijin Games changes their name to Choice Provisions, only to raise the troubling implication that some people who are gay and gather food are choosing to be gay. Being a Russian company, they are immediately arrested for "promoting homosexual propaganda" and are sentenced to 20 years hard labour in a Siberian salt mine. When the sentence is passed, Siberian rights groups complain that the sentence promotes stereotypes of cultural backwardness in Siberia by insinuating that there are only brutal prisons in that region. The judge then changes the sentence to 20 years hard labour in a trendy modern Siberian cafe for hip people.

 

[Grabehn]

So if they'd chosen "Nigga Games" or "Gweilo Games" would it have taken as long for them to change to something less offensive?

Mirroring earlier sentiments, why did they imagine it was okay in the first place? Ignorance isn't an excuse, it's not like you can't just google the meaning behind anything nowadays.

It depends on how much you know about the word you want to use though, while "nigga" is pretty well known to be a racial slur, most people thing "gaijin" just means foreigner. And the one time I've heard "Gweilo", it was James Hong saying it to a fat guy, so I just somehow knew it was offensive.

 

[Ickorus]

Only a gaijin can call another gaijin "gaijin."

Gaija' please, don't use the full word!

 

[Steven Bogos]

As for the company now known as "Choice Provisions", well, I suppose it's an alright gesture. I don't know anything about them but just from what I've seen about how Japanese people tend to consume games, I don't know if I expect them to have had any presence in Japan in the first place. So their previously calling themselves "Gaijin Games" may involve a racial slur, but it's not exactly likely to influence Japanese people and make the slur more commonly used. So it's a small gesture, but at least it's a gesture in the right direction.

I think we can all agree that changing your company name so that it offends less people is definitely a good thing.

 

[Paul Laimal-Convoy]

Technically, "gaijin" doesn't come from "gaikokojin" as the former predates the latter. Also, the term isn't used by official channels in Japan, due to the offensive/racist way it was used in WW2.

Regardless, as a foreigner living in Japan, I'm happy. I just wish gaijinpot would change their name.

 

[Flunk]

外人 (gaijin) literally mean outsider. It's pretty common for Japanese people to refer to any non-Japanese looking person as that because it's more polite to assume a larger amount of social "space" between them and a foreign stranger (because being too familiar is impolite) and what else can they call you if they don't know your name? Even the most polite word for "you" is considered mildly impolite. So it's not really impolite (or similar to the N word) like that. It can be insulting if used as a insult (but then again most Japanese insults are just normal words applied weirdly). There is a complicated in-group and out-group dynamic that makes foreign Japanese-learners bash their heads into the desk repeated many times.

Why are gaijin and gaikokujin very similar? It has to do with the writing system, they're both combination of Kanji (chinese characters) so outside-country person is similar to outside-person. It actually doesn't mean that either was formed off the other.

 

[Callate]

Sure, if you're reading Sankaku Complex or lurk /jp/ or /a/.

None of the above, actually.

I'm not sure where my particular interpretation came from, but it predates all of those. Did share it with my Japanese Art History prof in college, though.