Isn't Jap a derogatory term?

QUOTE:
Isn't Jap a derogatory term?

Aah. you refer to the subject row in the post "How can u get a Jap Keyboard;P ?? "

I don't know if it is derogative... I am not a native English speaker, so I could easily miss that kind of things.

Is it ok to say "jap" or not. What do you other guys say?

/J

I looked it up on Google, and found these definitions:

"AVOID. This is an offensive term used to describe people of Japanese descent."

"Term used during the war in reference to the Japanese military. It has a pejorative connotation, and my use is only in the context of the times. I prefer not to use it but changing the term would be unfaithful to my attempts at accuracy and objectivity. ..."

"(offensive slang) a person of Japanese descent"

"Jap (variants: Japo, Japse) is a term denoting anything Japanese. It is considered by some to be the shortened version of the word for Japan."

I am a native Japanese so forgive my poor English.

I think you guys better not to use the word "Jap". It is well-known as a derogatory meanings like Emma says.
What I know is that the word was used during the WW2 in American Army express Japanese, not only Japanese army, but also indicated each ordinally Japanese person.
(I am sorry about the history...)

I do not know any other good abbribiation for Japanese.
"JPN" is better perhaps?

Thanks for the clarification. I, for one, will try to avoid using the term.
/Johan

"Jap" is definitely to be avoided; most one- or two-syllable designations of ethnicity or nationality in American English are terms used to designate someone not in one's own group, and with at best dismissive connotations, often worse. "Jap" is not quite as bad as "gook," which was used indiscriminately to designate all Asians, especially during the Vietnam war era, but like "nigger," "kike" and "dago," it suggests an attitude of not really regarding the people so designated as one's equals as human beings. "Jew" used to have similar connotations in American society, but for some reason, it lost its edge, and is now used even by many of us who are Jewish. JAP, by the way, although pronounced the same way as Jap, stands for Jewish-American Princess, another derogatory term.

Another minor vocabulary issue: Johan, I don't know for sure about British English, but in American English one refers to a line of text, never to a row of text. So one would say subject line (or subject heading, or just heading, if the context was clear) rather than subject row.