The Japanese have a love/hate relationship with gaijin, foreigners; the Japanese have always been fascinated with the “other” and the culture of the other. They also want to remain uniquely Japanese. This is partly because Japan’s origin mythology does not take into account those who are not Japanese, nor are the others explained in that mythology. This is called closed-universe origin mythology. Contrast this with other societies where origin mythologies such as Christianity, where the world was created and then populated by numerous peoples. This is an open-universe origin mythology. The origin mythology of the West and Christendom accounts for both particular Westerners, other different kinds of Westerners, and outsiders.
h/t Kiki9
