Jap

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Jap (variants: Japo, Japse) is a term denoting anything Japanese. It is considered by some to be the shortened version of the word for Japan.

The three-letter and two-letter international country code (ISO 3166) for Japan, JPN and JP, are also commonly used for the abbreviation of Japan.

In Japanese dictionaries, the term Jap is only defined as a disparaging term used against the Japanese people, like it is the case in many English language dictionaries.^[1] In Britain it is considered mildly inappropriate but not a serious insult (cf Paki which is grossly offensive in British English yet not uncommon as an ethnic description in the United States).

1 War slur
2 Actions of civil rights groups
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] War slur

Newspaper headlines announcing Japanese surrender in World War II

The first recorded use of Jap was in 1860 to refer to members of the Japanese embassy in the United States. It was later popularized during World War II to describe those of Japanese descent, and was then commonly used in newspaper headlines to refer to the Japanese and Imperial Japan.

"Jap" was a derogatory term during the war, more so than "Nip."^[2] Some in the United States Marine Corps also tried to combine the word "Japs" with "Apes" to create a new description, "Japes", for the Japanese. However, this new word never became popular.^[2]

Veteran and author Paul Fussell explains the usefulness of the word during the war for creating effective propaganda by saying that "Japs" "was a brisk monosyllable handy for slogans like 'Rap the Jap' or 'Let's Blast the Jap Clean Off the Map.'"^[2]

[edit] Actions of civil rights groups

In Texas, under pressure from civil rights groups, Jefferson County commissioners in 2004 decided to drop the name "Jap Road" from a 4.3-mile road near the city of Beaumont. Ironically, the road was originally named Jap Road in 1905 in honor of a local Japanese rice farmer.^[3]^[4]

Also in adjacent Orange County, "Jap Lane" has also been targeted by civil rights groups.^[5] The road was originally named for the contributions of Kichimatsu Kishi and the farming colony he founded.