排外

• Reading: はいがい
• Romaji: haigai
• Kanji breakdown: 排 (hai) — exclude, push out; 外 (gai) — outside, foreign
• Pronunciation: /haigai/

Meaning

Xenophobia; exclusionism; hostility towards or systematic rejection of foreigners and foreign influence.

A noun and prefix denoting opposition to foreign peoples, cultures, or ideas. Historically appeared in 排外主義 (exclusionism, xenophobia) and 排外運動 (anti-foreign movement). Often encountered in discussions of Bakumatsu-era 攘夷 (expel the barbarians) ideology and in modern debates around immigration, nationalism, and hate speech regulation.

Examples

1. 経済的不満が鬱積する中、排外主義的な主張を掲げる政治勢力が急速に台頭した。 Against a backdrop of mounting economic grievances, political forces advocating xenophobic positions rose rapidly to prominence.
2. 排外感情を煽るヘイトスピーチに対し、法的規制を求める市民団体の声が高まっている。 Calls from civic groups demanding legal regulation of hate speech that inflames anti-foreign sentiment are growing louder.
3. 近代化の過程では、西洋文化の受容をめぐって排外と開化の思想が激しく対立した。 In the course of modernisation, exclusionist and pro-enlightenment ideologies clashed fiercely over the acceptance of Western culture.

Usage Guide

Context: politics, history, social commentary, human rights

Tone: critical

Origin & History

From 排 (to push aside, exclude) and 外 (outside, foreign). 排 contains the hand radical 扌, vividly conveying the physical act of pushing something away. The combination directly means 'forcibly pushing out that which is foreign.'

Cultural Context

Era: Meiji to Modern

Generation: Adults

Social background: Educated