ORIGINAL: Shark7
Weighing in here.
This has nothing to do with Political Correctness (I'm about the most un-PC person you'll ever meet). This is about simple manners and respect. I was raised to treat all people with good manners, and using a term to refer to a person I've never met that originated as a derogatory term to describe an enemy does not meet the good manners standard.
Also, I take into consideration how would I like to be treated. I don't like it when people use terms that were initially invented as a derogatory slang expression to describe me. It's the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
So I will refer to the Japanese as Japanese, and I hope they will refer to me as simply an American.
It looks to me like some take pride in being non-PC. PC can be a bit ridiculous. Possibly because I am a little older, the term "Jap" still has negative connotations. I am uncomfortable seeing the term, and I disagree with those like Terminus who believe the important thing is the intent of the user; that's naive since the reader doesn't always know the intent and never the biases.
Shark hits the nail on the head. The test is not what you can call your friends or what you intend. We all have an obvious common interest in AE, but most of us are still essentially strangers. The test is if you're talking at the bar with a friend, would or could a third person overhearing your conversation take offense? Or would you use the term to a person's face if they were a stranger? I venture to say that any of us that are not German and have any sense and cultural intelligence would not walk up to a stranger at the airport with a German passport and say, "Hey, you're a Kraut, aren't you?" Or a spic, wetback, pollack, frog, cannuck, etc.
I'm American. I'm proud to be a Yank. But, when I'm outside the country, I can be fairly certain that, whenever I hear the term used in some conversation I can't understand or overhear completely, the term is being used derogatively. There simply is no reason to use a term that has historically strong derogative connotations when a neutral and respectful term - like Japanese or IJ - is available. Sorry if that makes you type a couple of extra characters on your keyboard. If that's too much effort for you, then I have that much less respect for you as a person.
