In Japan a 'gaijin' is a foreigner or an alien, now we have the words 'foreigner' and 'alien' in the English language, but we rarely regard foreigners as terribly alien, the Japanese truly do regard westerners as almost another species. Culturally and historically there's so much going on it's hard to know where to start. It may not be politically correct to mention the war, but the treatment meted out to prisoners of war is a matter of record. The harshness was borne out of a lack of respect that was largely due to the Japanese abhorrence of surrender, but partly because the prisoners were gaijin.
