mainland Japanese; people from Honshu
Used by people in Hokkaido and Okinawa to refer to Japanese from the main islands, especially Honshu. Carries a regional perspective.
In Hokkaido, you sometimes hear the word 内地人.
People in Okinawa sometimes call mainland Japanese ナイチャー.
Japanese people (colonial context)
Obsolete term used during the Empire of Japan to distinguish Japanese from the people of its colonies. Now historical.
In prewar documents, a distinction was made between 内地人 and the people of the colonies.
Compound of 内地 (ないち, 'mainland' or 'inland') and 人 (じん, 'person'). The term reflects a historical center-periphery view within Japan and its former empire.