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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaijin

Gaikokujin ("foreigner" lit. "outside country person") is a Japanese word used to refer to foreigners. Gaijin (lit: "outside person"), a separate word originally meaning "outsider" or "enemy," is not a contraction of gaikokujin. However, gaijin is now most commonly used to mean caucasian, and is often rendered "foreigner", though as will be shown, this is not an accurate translation.

Generally, the term is used to describe non-Asian foreigners in Japan, but not for blacks. Furthermore, Japanese tourists often use the word to refer to local caucasians when they travel abroad. East Asians are usually referred to using their ethnic or national backgrounds, as in ch¨±gokujin (ÖÐ¹úÈË Chinese; lit. China + person) or kankokujin (South Korean; lit. South Korea + person). Foreigners of primarily Japanese ancestry are called nikkei, while part-Japanese foreigners are usually called h¨¡fu ("half") or ku¨t¨¡ ("quarter"). This indicates that the term gaijin carries racial, as well as national, nuances

History
The first Europeans to visit Japan were the Portuguese in 1542. They were known as Nanbanjin (lit. "southern barbarian people"), owing to the fact that their ships came sailing in from the south, and that they were perceived as quite unrefined by Japanese standards. This designation was adopted from Chinese usage, and had been in use to name southern people in general.

The usage of the term died off during the Edo era, when the country was closed to foreigners. From 1854, when Japan opened again, until the early 20th century, foreigners in Japan were commonly referred to as ijin (lit. "different person"), a contraction of ikokujin (lit. "different country person") or ihoojin (lit. "different motherland person").

Starting in the Meiji era, the term gaikokujin was used to refer to Japanese residents from outside the Empire of Japan, while the term naikokujin ("inside country person") was used to refer to nationals of other territories of the Empire. The naikokujin term fell out of use after World War II, but gaikokujin remained the official government term for non-Japanese people in Japan.

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Political correctness
Some feel that in a collectivist culture such as Japan, where strong social and business distinctions are made between in- and out-group members, the literal meaning of this word, i.e. "outside person," emphasises the idea that non-Japanese are outsiders. Others point out that what foreigners in Japan really find annoying is that, after settling into Japan and becoming proficient in the language, they are still referred to as "foreigners" by people who couldn't possibily know their actual citizenship or status of residence. Further, the term is regularly applied to naturalized Japanese citizens who do not have ethnically Japanese ancestry. Due to these racially oriented and out-group contexts in a society that is nearly ethnically homogeneous, non-Japanese often perceive the word gaijin as derogatory.

Japanese may avoid using gaijin in front of non-Japanese, using instead the term gaikokujin (some non-Japanese even insist on this). On the other hand, most Japanese use the term gaijin as part of their conversation, ostensibly without pejorative intent. In fact, puzzled Japanese sometimes ask foreigners why they find the word gaijin to be offensive. On the other hand, more sensitive individuals who have lived abroad may be offended themselves when another Japanese person uses the word, regardless of the user's intent.

Because of these mixed perceptions of the word gaijin, it is a common target of kotobagari ("word hunting"), the censorship of terms considered to be politically incorrect.