I used this word literally just yesterday talking about tanning to a Japanese person and they didn’t seem to have any issues with it. For the record this person is pretty open about correcting my word usage so if it was a huge problem I’m sure they would have said something.
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I do live in Japan! And thank you, I think I will ask her more about it. Maybe it is simply word use and context rather than the term itself!
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KanjiGarden also uses ‘hakujin’. I don’t see the issue, white people are white and they are people.
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They can be pink if sunburnt
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I would say no.
But, even if it was, that makes it even more important to learn - so that you don’t accidentally use it because you hadn’t learned it properly.
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Judging from a lot of the posts on stuff like this, when Japanese people say
What they usually mean is
it’s not a word you as a non-native speaker should learn or use but of course I as a native speaker know and use it all the time because of course I know what I’m doing
Not that I think they mean to be patronizing or anything. It’s just that if they saw that on the screen of another Japanese native they’d most likely just say “eh, you didn’t learn that word in sixth grade?”
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Oh well, Japanese don’t mean to be patronizing, they just are patronizing, right? Lol
While I’m clearly saying it as a joke, I don’t think the above statement is wrong, tbh
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Aye, it’s probably not on the level of 日本語上手 or anything.
But like that phrase, you have to take all feedback with a grain of salt.
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It’s not a word you as a person who was born in a country where the sun does not rise in the east should learn or use.
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I’m certain it was just shock at seeing “white person” or “Caucasian” in big letters on someone’s screen, nothing more. It would seem odd if I saw that on a Japanese person’s screen that was studying English.
Tell them they are just giving examples of the ハク reading for practice.
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P.s. random thought: it’s not a bad word but it would probably be a bad idea for me to wear a tee shirt with only those characters in a large font at Shinjuku crossing. Context.
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These are very common words. Is this person a native speaker? Ask him/her what word to use to say “black person” or “caucasian”? I don’t think there are any other options.
NHK has no compunctions against using it. Admittedly it’s often in a racial context given all the racially related news coming out of the U.S.
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My goodness that guy in the video is unbelievably annoying. I assume that voice is an act, but what a staggeringly bad choice.
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Yeah, that was his whole character, exactly the kind edgy teens find hilarious. Also the type to use slurs somewhat liberally. I remember him being really popular when I was in middle school (~2013-14 ish), and retrospectively the whole channel just kinda seems like a fever dream.
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I thought the same thing but he has 7.8M subscribers and that video has 9M views. So he’s doing something right. He hasn’t posted in four years. So either he’s retired and living the dream or the dream is no more…
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He retired the channel and switched to making more serious music: Joji (musician) - Wikipedia
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Some of the last music that he made as Pink Guy under his channel actually makes fun of teens who use edgy topics over and over with no regards to context or audience. In my opinion that was what drew people to the channel was that he was making fun of the very thing he was portraying. His humor was very akin to Trey Parker and Matt Stone who made South Park.
In my opinion, the topic of the thread is very related. Anything can be construed as offensive depending on your audience, tone, and the context of the situation. Just do your best to be respectful when learning something new.
If someone is upset with something you said just treat them kindly and understand their perspective (usually trying not to repeat the same mistake.) This falls under the “Knowing your audience” part. This is also the reason why opting for polite or “proper” speech is important when you are getting to know a person.
With learning something new there are all sorts of pitfalls and nuances that often require making mistakes first! Don’t let that discourage you 
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UPDATE: (For reference I do live in Japan, so I am speaking about native Japanese people)
I spoke to the teacher again, and asked for clarification. She explained that, it is not commonly used these days, since it CAN be considered offensive/discriminative to describe someone by the colour of their skin. Foreigner is more likely to be used in that kind of scenario. Its not that the word itself is derogatory on its own, its more because of the way it has been used in the past. (Which is not entirely dissimilar to what we do in Western countries thinking about it. White person Id say is used fairly often, but you certainly wouldnt use the same type of descriptor when talking about Japanese people for example)
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He makes music now. His name is Joji
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