Uchi to Soto

Just complementing what I wrote previously. Extracted from the book "The Japanese Mind" (DAVIES, Roger D.; IKENO Osamu. Tuttle Publishing, 2002).

"The Japanese generally call people from other countries gaijin no matter how long they have lived in Japan or how well they speak the Japanese language. (...) The Japanese clearly distinguish insiders from outsiders in daily life, depending on whether the others belong to an uchi [inside] or soto [outside] group. Although this distinction can be seen to some degree everywhere in the world, it is fundamental and widespread in Japan, where the dual concept of uchi/soto has had a great influence on Japanese society, especially in terms of human relations."

"(...) Groups include one's home, school, and community, with the outermost boundary being that of the nation itself. As a result, the Japanese have long stressed the need for harmonious relationships with the same group (uchi) but are often not good at associating with those from other groups (soto)."

"(...) Even today, if a person's language, skin color, habits, or appearance are different, many Japanese will regard them as soto, or outsiders, and will ignore them (...) In the international world, too, the Japanese have to develop relationships with people from other countries, but a major obstacle in acheving this goal has been a common tendency to group all such people together as gaijin, ignoring individual differences among them because thay are all soto. Because such distinctions, which can be deeply hurtful to outsiders, are often unconscious among the Japanese"

It's not that all Japanese are like that. Some can be really friendly. And, fortunately, I've met people like that. But it's good to have a explanation for such behavior, anyway.