Kaijin
/ˈkaɪ.dʒɪn/noun
A Japanese term for a strange or superhuman person, especially a masked villain or humanoid monster in popular fiction.
Did you know?In Japanese genre fiction, kaijin are often human-scale adversaries, contrasting with kaijū, the giant monsters that became famous through Godzilla-style cinema.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
*kˤrajʔ
“Strange, unusual, bizarre; ancestor of the character 怪”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
怪 (kwæjH)
“Strange, abnormal, monstrous, or uncanny”
Old Japanese
Japanese
怪 (kai)
“Strange, mysterious, uncanny, or supernatural”
Classical Japanese
Japanese
人 (jin)
“Person or human being; the Sino-Japanese reading of 人”
Modern Japanese
Japanese
怪人 (kaijin)
“A strange person, uncanny human, or humanoid supervillain”
20th Century
English loanword
kaijin
“A Japanese-fiction term for a humanoid monster or masked villain”