Japinoy.com

Not a lot of people are aware of the connotation of the word 'Jap', that it is considered a racial slur. What are your thoughts about this? Have you mistakenly used this before? Please share your experiences and opinions. ^_^

Well, i knew that it was used during the world war, but that was a long time ago. Is it still offensive? I have no idea. I know it used to have a bad connotation but actually i use the word together with its other "synonyms" like "nihonjin" and "hapon", depends on which one i feel like using at that moment. Maybe I should ask them...

You are right, spitz-san; it was popularized durng the war to use against the Japanese. Eventually, it started to lose the derogatory meaning, however, a lot of Japanese are still offended by it. I read that Western-born Japanese are especially averse to this until now.

I'm surprised that this is not taught in schools, kahit parang side note lang. Kasi meron akong classmate na nag-exchange program siya sa Japan ng 1 year, she uses the word 'Jap' all the time. Then, recently, I bought this local food magazine that referred to Japanese food as 'Jap chow'. Also, speaking of food, there's this local resto called Jumbo Japs, which I think meant large servings of Japanese food (as in Chubby China).

Btw, I read in Jdorama.com that the initial name of the site was supposed to be Japdorama.com but the owner changed it because of the connotation of 'Jap'. Well, at least, he was aware of it and changed the name right away. ^_^

In the same line, the word 'Nippon' is hardly used these days (same with Nippongo) - instead, the country is 'Nihon'. This is because 'Nippon' is associated with Hirohito and the war and I think it is a sensitive issue for them, hence, the change to 'Nihon'.

Yup. Alam ko din na dahil sa giyera nangaling itong word na Jap. For safety-sake di na lang ako gagamit nito kasi di ko rin alam kung offensive para dun sa Hapon o ibang tao. 

Thanks for the information you guys. I didn't know there was more to 'Jap' than a shortened word for its people and the country.

 

In the same line, the word 'Nippon' is hardly used these days (same with Nippongo) - instead, the country is 'Nihon'. This is because 'Nippon' is associated with Hirohito and the war and I think it is a sensitive issue for them, hence, the change to 'Nihon'.

ahh! ito ngaun ko lang nalaman. i recognize the name Hirohito pero di ko na maassociate with the things stuffed in my brain..ahehe

spitz:

ahh! ito ngaun ko lang nalaman. i recognize the name Hirohito pero di ko na maassociate with the things stuffed in my brain..ahehe

Refresher course muna:  ^_^
Hirohito reluctantly supported the war against China (1931-32) and the invasion of Manchuria in 1937. However, he approved the attack on Pearl Harbor that led to Japan and the United States being drawn into the Second World War.

So it is not possible to mention the name Hirohito, without associating it with WWII. Oh well..

I am not Japanese, but seeing all these blog posts and forum posts that use 'Jap' make me cringe...I'm going to Makati again to buy Jap food. I want Jap friends. I listen to Jap music. Gawd!

Guess what? The folks at Jdorama.com prohibits members from using the word. Good for them!  

ginagamit ko po yun madalas. wala po akong idea na may masamang connotation yun. ~_~;; i`ll keep that in mind. better be careful next time. ^__^

Oo nga, tamang tama kasi nasa Japan ka ngayon. Baka lang may mga nao-offend pa rin dito kasi. ^_^ 

nalaman ko lang din na offensive ang jap dun sa jdorama.com kasi may gumamit nun tapos pinagalitan. marami talagang hindi nakakaalam na offensive pala yung term. pero nung college, sikat na abbreviation for Hapon classes ay "Jap". yun ang gamit ng most students. i'm surprised na hindi man lang tinuro yun sa kanila in class. 

tsaka yung kapitbahay pala namin na half-japanese, "Japs" ang name nya. weird. i mean, parang kung black ka, "***" yung name mo.  diba?

^ Bawal talaga ung word na 'Jap' sa Jdorama.com. If I'm not mistaken, the original name of the site was Japdrama.com (or something like that) until somebody pointed out to the site owner what the word "Jap" really meant.

I think what the site is doing is really good - educate people regarding this. Sa totoo lang, it's weird that not a lot of people care about this issue -- maski sa mga Japanese schools or Japanese courses sa university, di ata ito nabanggit.  

i ask my wishart about this kung offensive ba kc ala rin ako idea,sabi nya oo kc from the time of kopong kopong gnmit yan ng amerikano dw to insult nihonjin.pero ngayon d2 wala n sya nriringgan n gumagamit ng jap,or khit s work nya mrami kasing gaijin sya ksama,parang d2 s japan nkalimutan n ata yan or d lng kmi aware.

if the term was used by the americans, probably the post-war pinoys never knew about the connotation, much more sa x-gen, esp nowadays, lahat na yata ng words abbreviated. siguro dissemination na lang sa mga younger ones in a positve note. 

yuko:

i ask my wishart about this kung offensive ba kc ala rin ako idea,sabi nya oo kc from the time of kopong kopong gnmit yan ng amerikano dw to insult nihonjin.pero ngayon d2 wala n sya nriringgan n gumagamit ng jap,or khit s work nya mrami kasing gaijin sya ksama,parang d2 s japan nkalimutan n ata yan or d lng kmi aware.

Yung kopong-kopong ay nung time ng World War 2 ata. Dahil magkalaban ang US at Japan nun, referred ng mga Amerikano sa mga Hapon ay "Japs." Gaya ng meron nun newspaper headline sa US, nakalagay: "Japs surrendered!" Nung ngang sumuko na Hapon sa WW2. Bale to be politically correct dapat walang gumagamit ng "Japs."