1.
foreigner; person from another country; stranger from a foreign land
A literary or somewhat old-fashioned term for a person from a different country. Carries a more romantic or exotic nuance than the neutral 外国人, often evoking historical or literary contexts.
港に異国人の船が着いた。
A ship carrying foreigners arrived at the harbor.
江戸時代の人々にとって、異国人は珍しい存在だった。
For the people of the Edo period, foreigners were a rare sight.
小説の主人公は、異国人との出会いをきっかけに広い世界に目を向けるようになった。
The novel's protagonist, through an encounter with a foreigner, came to turn their eyes toward the wider world.
Composed of 異国 (foreign country) and 人 (person). This word has a literary, historical tone and is not commonly used in everyday conversation, where 外国人 is the standard term. 異国人 often appears in historical fiction, period dramas, and texts about Japan's contact with the outside world during the Edo period and earlier.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 異国人の姿: the figure of a foreigner
- 異国人との交流: interaction with foreigners
- 異国人居留地: foreign settlement
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 外国人: foreigner — the standard, neutral modern term
- 外人: foreigner — colloquial and sometimes considered impolite
- 異邦人: stranger; foreigner — literary, with a more philosophical or existential nuance (as in Camus' "L'Étranger")
REGISTER:
Used primarily in written language, historical contexts, and literature. In modern speech, using 異国人 would sound deliberately old-fashioned or poetic.