noun
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.
北海道では、内地人という言葉を聞くことがある。
In Hokkaido, you sometimes hear the word 内地人.
沖縄の人は内地人を「ナイチャー」と呼ぶこともある。
People in Okinawa sometimes call mainland Japanese ナイチャー.
noun
Japanese people (colonial context)
Obsolete term used during the Empire of Japan to distinguish Japanese from the people of its colonies. Now historical.
戦前の文献では、内地人と植民地の人々が区別されていた。
In prewar documents, a distinction was made between 内地人 and the people of the colonies.
ナイチャー is an Okinawan colloquial term for mainland Japanese, derived from 内地人.
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.