First of all, I'd like to point out something here that bugged me when I read it:
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In fact the literal meaning of "gaijin" is outsider.
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In fact, the meaning of "foreigner" is exactly that. If you look down the Latin meaning of the word (in Spanish, it's "foraneo", so I suppose it has a Latin origin; and it doesn't mean exactly foreigner, but more like stranger, out of the ordinary, in the margins), it probably means the same. In Japanese it's more evident since there's the kanji system to the formation of words, but in truth, this works like this in a western society such as the American or the English one. Add in terms like "alien" (which is often applied to immigrants) and the association becomes much more blatant.
That small detail aside, I'd like to point out that views such as these, from a completely western point of view, usually fail to deliver the whole picture. I certainly can't comment on this matter because I haven't been to Japan myself, but my best friend is of Japanese descent (of
direct Japanese descent) and they don't close themselves up that much. Granted, the society they live in is different.
And once again, even when in a single society you'll find a common trend, there will always be a gazillion of deviations from the norm. So I don't believe that the Japanese society can be completely summarized in a few paragraphs. Even less when it comes from a website named "Japanese Culture for Newcomers". I'd trust much more a serious, extensive paper on the matter.
And besides, I'd like to hear the opinion of some of the Japanese members of AS.