Japanese honorifics

In Japan, it is usual to use honorific titles after a person's name, such as -san or -kun or -chan. These titles are always placed after the name, and are not usually used with one's own name.

Not using an honorific in Japan is called yobisute and is either extremely familiar or extremely rude. These two things are almost equivalent in Japanese. These respectful titles are dropped when referring to a member of one's own in-group to someone from outside the group. For more information, see uchi-soto.

Common honorific titles

• -san (さん). -San is the most common honorific title, and its use is mandatory when addressing most social outsiders (for example, non-family members). -San is used unless the addressee's status warrants a more polite term. It is often translated as "Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", and the like, though such a translation is not always accurate. San may also be used in combination with other titles. Thus, a bookseller might be addressed as honya-san (roughly, "Mr. Bookseller") and a butcher as nikuya-san ("Ms. Butcher"). Also, companies usually refer to each other as san, for example kojima-denki-san. San is also applied to some kinds of foods. For example, fish used for cooking are sometimes referred to as sakana-san. Both san and its more formal equivalent, sama, imply a kind of familiarity. For those whom the speaker has not met, the title shi may be preferred.

• -han (はん). -Han is the equivalent of -san in the Kansai dialect.

• -kun (くん，君). -Kun is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used for males. It is used by superiors in addressing inferiors, or by males of roughly the same age and status in addressing each other. In business settings young women may also be addressed as -kun by older male superiors. Schoolteachers typically address male students using -kun, while female students are addressed as -san or -chan. -Kun is also used among friends of similar social standing, and by parents and relatives to address male children (rather than -chan).

• -chan (ちゃん). -Chan is the informal, intimate, diminutive equivalent of -san, used to refer to children and female family members, close friends and lovers. Though animals (which are seen as inherently inferior to humans) do not require honorifics, pets are frequently referred to using this diminutive as well. Chan is also used for adults who are considered cute. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the nickname Shuwa-chan in Japanese. Some young girls and women refer to themselves as chan, for example a young woman called Maki might call herself Maki-chan rather than using a pronoun like watashi.

• -senpai is used by students to refer to or address senior students in an academic or other learning environment.

• -kohai is used by students to refer to or address junior students in an academic or other learning environment.

• -sensei is used to refer to or address a teacher, doctor, politician, or other authority figure. It is also used to show respect to someone. For example, Japanese manga fans refer to manga artists using the term sensei, as in Takahashi sensei for manga artist Rumiko Takahashi.

• -sama (様). -Sama is the formal version of -san. This honorific is used primarily in addressing persons much higher in rank than oneself (as long as some other title is unavailable), and is used in commercial and business settings to address and refer to customers (see uchi-soto.) It also forms parts of set phrases such as okyaku-sama (customer) or omachidō-sama ("I am sorry to keep you waiting"). -Sama also follows the addressee's name on postal packages and letters, again provided it is not superseded by some other title. -Sama can also be used for people considered to have some high ability or be particularly attractive. If a young man is considered particularly handsome, he might be referred to as Tanaka-sama rather than Tanaka-san by his female admirers. For example, Leonardo DiCaprio has gained the nickname Leo-sama in Japan. Another usage is in an arrogant context, as in the arrogant male pronoun ore-sama, "my esteemed self", meaning "I".

• -shi (氏). This formal title is used in polite speech for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person who the speaker has never met. For example, the shi title is common in the speech of newsreaders. It is also used in formal writing. It is preferred in legal documents, academic journals, and certain other formal written styles because of the familiarity which "san" or "sama" imply. Once a person's name has been used with -shi, the person can be referred to with shi alone, without the name, as long as there is only one person being referred to.

Other honorific titles

• Occupation-related titles. It is common for sports athletes to be referred to as "senshu". For example, Japanese footballer Robert Cullen is referred to as Karen-senshu. A carpenter might have the title "tōryō" (master carpenter) attached to his name, and be referred to as "Suzuki-Tōryō" rather than "Suzuki-San". Television lawyer Hideki Maruyama is referred to as Maruyama Bengoshi 丸山弁護士 (literally "Maruyama-lawyer") rather than Maruyama-san.
• Special titles for criminals. Convicted criminals are referred to without san but with the title hikoku (被告). Suspects awaiting trial are referred to by the title yōgisha (容疑者).
• Titles for companies. As mentioned above, companies often refer to each other informally using the company name plus san. In correspondance, the title onchū (御中) is added to the company name when it is not addressed to a specific person. See Japanese etiquette.
• -dono/-tono (殿). -Dono and -tono roughly mean "lord". This title is no longer used in daily conversation, though it is still used in some types of written business correspondance It is also seen on drug prescriptions, certificates and awards, and in written correspondence in tea ceremonies. It is also seen in anime, where characters are often either members of royal or noble houses, or gain sufficient respect for the honorific.
• -ue (上). -Ue literally means "above" and, appropriately, denotes a high level of respect. While its use is no longer very common, it is still seen in constructions like 父上 (chichi-ue) and 母上 (haha-ue), reverent terms for one's own, or someone else's, father and mother, respectively.
• -iemoto (家元). -Iemoto is an even more polite version of -sensei used for the highest ranking persons in traditional art forms such as calligraphy or the tea ceremony. See ja:家元 (Iemoto entry in Japanese Wikipedia).

Royal titles

• -heika (陛下). Affixed to the end of a royal title, with a meaning roughly equivalent to "Majesty" (天皇陛下; tennō-heika: His Majesty the Emperor; 女王陛下; joō-heika: Her Majesty the Queen). Heika by itself can also be used as a direct term of address ("Your Majesty").

• -denka (殿下). Affixed to the end of a royal title, with a meaning roughly equivalent to "Royal Highness" or "Majesty". Example: 「スウェーデン王国　ビクトリア皇太子殿下」"Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of the Kingdom of Sweden".

• -kakka (閣下). "Your Excellency", used for ambassadors and some heads of state.

Usage in popular culture

As with other aspects of the language, usage in popular culture such as manga and anime often bears little resemblance to that which is accepted in everyday use; writers may choose to have their characters use very idiosyncratic language as a distinguishing factor. In particular, it is common for authors of harem-type comedies to arrange for every female character to address the hero in a different way, even where this stretches the bounds of plausibility.

See also

• Japanese honorifics