白人
hakujin[ha̠kɯ̟ʑĩɴ]
The Japanese phrase for "white man" is 白人 (hakujin).
白人 is used to refer to a person of European descent. While it accurately describes someone's race, it is more common in everyday conversation to describe a person by their nationality or to simply use the term for a "foreign person", which is 外国人.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of the kanji 白 (white) and 人 (person).
Which one should you use?
白人 refers specifically to a white person. However, it is a technical or formal term, whereas in casual conversation, people are more likely to use terms relating to nationality or the general term for a foreigner.
How do you pronounce it?
hakujin
Did you know?
- Japan has a specific term ハーフ ('half') to describe people of mixed heritage, such as someone who is half-Japanese and half-白人.
- The term 白人 is part of a set of color-coded racial terms in Japanese, including 黒人 for black people and 黄人 for East Asians, though the latter is rarely used in speech.
- While 白人 is the standard term, some Japanese people use the slang term gaijin to refer to any non-Japanese person, regardless of race, though it can sometimes be perceived as exclusionary.
Examples in context
- 彼は白人です。Kare wa hakujin desu.He is a white man.
- あの白人の男性は誰ですか？Ano hakujin no dansei wa dare desu ka?Who is that white man?
Example conversation
Yui and Yota are watching people in a park.
- 結衣 Yuiあそこにいる白人の男性は誰かな？Asoko ni iru hakujin no dansei wa dare kana?I wonder who that white man over there is?
- 陽太 Yotaたぶん観光客ですよ。Tabun kankoukyaku desu yo.He is probably a tourist.
- 結衣 Yuiあの白人はとても背が高いですね。Ano hakujin wa totemo se ga takai desu ne.That white man is very tall, isn't he?
- 陽太 Yota本当ですね。Hontou desu ne.That's true.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 白人, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
