Gaijin

This is a Japanese term for “foreigner.” There’s debate as to whether it’s an insult or not (I imagine it could go both ways, depending on context or usage).

Why I Looked It Up

It came up in Neuromancer a lot, especially the early chapters set in Chiba City.

Postscript

I’m reading Shogun by James Clavell, and it turns out the last book in his Asian Saga was named Gai-Jin (with the hyphen).