There are two big, pervasive concepts in Japan known as uchi (内) and soto (外) — basically “inside” and “outside.” (Soto is also the “gai” of “gaijin” — foreigner, or “outside person.”) Beyond the literal sense of each word, you can use uchi to mean your house, your company, your family, your group. Uchi can also be used as a first-person pronoun as in “Uchi no kaisha” (“My company” or “Our company”). Soto can have vaguely negative connotations of not belonging or even rejection.