Humor, Identity, and Belonging

Chapter 3 Defining Gaijin

My focus is on what I call “gaijin humor,” a term I intend to refer to instances in which American and Japanese participants deploy humor related to beliefs about their respective cultural identities. Although the word gaijin itself refers specifically to foreigners in Japan, humor used in interactions between Americans and Japanese frequently involves delineating between Americans and Japanese. Thus, “gajijin humor,” as I use it here, includes any kind of humor in which references to stereotypes, ideologies, beliefs, or other presumptions (whether objectively true or not) about American and Japanese cultures are used as a basis for teasing, mockery, narrative jokes, language play, or other forms of humor. As a first ...