Would you buy a tshirt with the work Gaijin on it?
 

Pretty simple question I guess.

If you don't know what the word Gaijin means, I guess you would walk right past the stall.

Nevertheless, it is a Japanese word that means outsider or foreigner.

It was a word popularised, by the movie Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

It has a cool stigma attached to it in Japan, where foreigners often invoke much intrigue.
As well as a bad stigma, aka Baka na Gaijin, stupid foreigner.

All in all, I thought it was pretty cool and I thought a lot of Japanophiles would buy it on a tshirt, so I am in the process of getting them made. Naturally, I don't have any pictures to show, it would have the word once in roman characters and once again in one of the Japanese writing systems, as well as perhaps a character, kawaii or otherwise, and maybe a symbol of Gaijinness, like a spoon.

I cam up with the idea, for when I go to Japan, so that I would not be hit by hardcore Japanese and be let off for my poor, unaccustomed etiquette.

What do you think?

I think you need to look back a lot further than 2006 for the word Gaijin.

No I would not buy a shirt that said Gaijin on it. That would be pretty lame. There isn't anything "cool" about the word, and it can have neutral to negative implication.

I'd rethink my business plan.

Thanks for the reply, although I said that movie popularised the term. I know its old.

I certainly understand the implications, but I have also heard a lot of supportive things. I guess its pretty hit and miss with some people.

Any others?

I wouldn't wear that shirt. I think a lot of people would miss the humor.

Yeah, this is what i fear. At least, I see you would appreciate it yourself.

Regardless of what the wearer thought about it, it could easily create a negative impression of him/her.

valid point, although there are t shirts on the market with baka na gaijin or hen na gaijin, so they are still selling.

there is a market for it at least.

In Japan? Or among Japanophiles in America or the UK or something?

Those look silly, too. And I don't think the guy who came up with those is putting his kids through college on the profits.

USA, i believe. also, its worth noting that gaijin isnt juat about being a foreigner. it strictly means outsider.

it is widely used about rebel artists etc. inside of japan. perhaps even for their equivalent of scene kids.

i've seen a whole documentary about gaijin, who are japanese.

I wouldn't get one either. I'd never get caught in one in Japan. I'd rather give them a better impression of myself.

In the states, it's just chicken scratch to most and then you'd have to explain what a gaijin is to those who ask what it means. (probably not too many though)

I don't know what chicken scratch is, but there's plenty of people who wear clothes that say things other people don't know. Like Superdry.

Also, I don't need to put kids through college, I'm still in education myself. This is just and experiment.

You are batting 0 for 3 on a board full of your potential target audience.

why would a gaijin want a shirt that says gaijin? firs of all everyone can usually see that you are one, and second - it's stupid.
i would go for this one.

maybe, but its not going to stop me trying.

You know, I think that you`re assigning a lot more meaning to the word than is really there.

99.99% of people in Japan who would see it would read it as "foreigner" and nothing else. No "outsider", no cool stigma, etc. It would mean nothing other than "Not Japanese" when written on your shirt.

Oh really? Because no one in Japan would ever understand it as meaning anything other than "foreigner". I have yet to see it used to mean anything other than that even once in 12 years of living in Japan.

The whole weird obsession with stuff like this among those outside Japan always strikes me as having handfuls of mysticism tossed in. It happens a lot with kanji as if they have some sort of magical power attached to them, as if certain words carry all sorts of powerful meanings, etc. It`s just a word.

Don't bother.

A) It's not funny...

B) Someone beat you to it.

No! It's so tactless! Like,I saw a t-shirt saying"I am not Japanese" in Akihabara and I don't see how they made the mental leap "Well,I'll make it easy for them. I'm all for intergration. I know! They can advertise the fact that they're different!"

I don't know. The Japanese can be rather non-racially aware at times.

I would buy that shirt if it was in Lakers gold and purple. I think it would sell big.