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As a near native speaker of Japanese, I find it annoying to be called 外人 since
it seems to imply that I "know nothing about Japan" (outsider). I much prefer
外国人.

**In modern usage** , how do native speakers regard the differences between
外人, 外国人 and 外人さん?

Also are there any newer more "PC" uses of the word coming into use (akin to
not calling North American natives 'Indians')?
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2011-06-07T06:16:24.860
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word-choice usage words politeness
In modern usage how do Japanese natives regard the differences between 外人, 外国人 and 外人さん?
First, I am not native, but let me share my idea on how I feel.

I also prefer 外国人, but I don't feel offended with 外人.

It could be because they think 外人 is a more common word than 外国人 or everyone
around them use 外人, and Japanese use short-form of the words a lot, so may be
they don't intend to be discriminate.

I personally feels 外人さん is sarcastic, but may be I am wrong.
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2011-06-07T06:44:52.227
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Nowadays 外人 and 外国人 are similar in meaning, with the latter seeing less usage.
However, traditionally speaking 外人 is a derogatory word that shouldn't be used
towards foreigners. 外人 actually doesn't mean foreigner as much as it means
"outsider" to a group. So one could technically refer to people in a different
social class/group as you as 外人 and technically be ok. Though I've have not
heard this usage recently. This usage is the derogatory one btw.Though the
only people I've met that know about this distinction have been Japanese
teachers and people over 60.

外人さん I have heard is just japanese throwing a title onto the end of a group of
people to make it seem more polite like Tanaka-san, though whether or not it
is actually more polite is questionable.

lastly, I've actually been called this by my grand-mother-in-law, 異国人(いこくじん)
which is a VERY old very polite way of referring to foreigners as it means
"people from a different country". But even my wife was shocked when she heard
this, since she has never heard it before.
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I'm surprised that this isn't mentioned in the above posts. I can't remember
the exact sociolinguistic study but the differentiation in usage of both terms
for a majority of Japanese speakers sampled was based on race. 外国人 is a catch
all term for all foreigners (asian, black, white, etc) and considered the
modern polite term. Whereas, 外人 is used for white people and black people.
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First of all, there's only one **_modern polite_** word to call a foreigner
and it is 外国人. There are other phrases too, such as 海外の人 or 海外の方. The latter
one is used more often.

However, you mostly hear 外国人 when a politician talks from a tribune or an
overly politically correct Japanese person tries to be polite.

In fact the normal way to refer to a foreigner is 外人 and there's zero offence
in it. When talking about a particular person, -さん is added, making 外人さん.
Again, this is not offensive even a bit and is hardly ironical. I'd say it is
quite polite way to refer to a foreigner even if not suitable for an official
setting.

And of course there were always foreigners who feel offended by the 外人 word
because apparently the word is made of "outside" and "man" and with some
fantasy can be translated as an "alien". Which is well, quite true, so I see
no reason to be offended here.

Alien is perfectly normal word to refer to a foreign national or to a foreign
introduction.
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# Answer

I'm a native speaker and I'm sure that there's no difference between them.

It's a evidence for it that Japanese government uses `外人` on its public
document.

# Reference

It's said that `外人(さん)` _should not_ be used because few people feel
discriminated when Japanese call them `外人`.

Thus, especially on public document (e.g. TV programs), `外国人` are used
nowadays.

(EDIT) Here are some pages in www.mod.go.jp (Japanese government: Ministry Of
Defence) that use the word `外人`.

  * <http://goo.gl/Y61ghA> (A diary of personnel in Western Air Defense Force.)
  * <http://goo.gl/jNDiki> (An introduction of a radio program.)
  * <http://goo.gl/Qh4tS7> (Photos taken by personnel of 南関東防衛局.)

Japanese government built some cemeteries for foreign people, called `外人墓地`.
An article on Wikipedia mentioned about `外国人` and `外人`.

  * <http://goo.gl/CPCbL> (Wikipedia Japanese: "外国人")

Please take a look at reference #2:

>
> 「[外人墓地]{がいじんぼち}」や「[外人部隊]{がいじんぶたい}」など[公的]{こうてき}な[名称]{めいしょう}としても[長]{なが}く[使]{つか}われており[差別的]{さべつてき}な[意味合]{いみあ}いはなかったことは[明]{あき}らかである
>
> (Both `外人墓地 (Foreign cemeteries)` and `外人部隊 (Foreign legion)` have been used
> for long time. So, it's certain that there are no meanings that imply
> discrimination.)
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