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The Japanese people (日本人, nihon'-jin or nippon-jin) are those who typically speak Japanese language, are born in Japan and live, age, and die in Japan with Japanese citizenship and name. Very few are originally from outside Japan.
Japanese people usually have black hair and brown eyes and compared with Westerners, are shorter and thinner.
The question of Japanese national identity is tricky. A number of ethnic Korean born and living in Japan regard themselves as Koreans not Japanese, partly because they refuse to take Japanese citizenship. Other minorities have ambivalent feelings. Okinawans may distinguish themselves from people in mainland Japan because they are ethnically closer to Malay. Theres a small population of a native race called the Ainu who are caucasians, living in Hokkaido who retain their own identity just like the native Americans in the US do.
The origin of the Japanese people is a still controversial topic and there are dozens of theories among ethnologists. The Chinese believe that Japanese are the decendants of a Chinese general who have fled to Japan to look for a medicine that gives everlasting life. The most accepted theory is that some Japanese are from China via the South path and some are from the Mongol via the North path, some are from South East Asia (Malays) and some from Polynesia because the Japanese people have various facial structures depending on its region. There is some evidence that suggests some of the ancient tribes of Israel may have settled here. [1] [1]
Jap is a slang term with a strongly negative connotation. Japanese have a strong sense of isolationism and social cohesion, referring to foreigners as "gai-jin" (outside person). Ironically, when in America, Japanese sometimes refer to Americans as gaijin and are surprised if asked whether the term might apply to themselves during their visit.
The Nisei Japanese (二世 pronounced Nee-say, lit. second generation) refer to the children of Japanese emigrants. Usually they were born in the country to which the parents moved, but some may have been born in Japan, and moved as infants. See Nisei Japanese American for Nisei in the US.