Japanese honorifics

In Japan, it is usual to use honorific titles after a person's name. The most common title is san, which means all of "Mr", "Mrs", and "Ms." Hence, in Japanese, Mr Tanaka is referred to as Tanaka-san. Other common titles include, sama, sensei, kun and chan. These titles are placed after the name. They are not usually used with one's own name.

Use

Correct use of titles is considered very important in Japan. Calling somebody by just their name, without adding a title, is called yobisute (呼び捨て), literally "call and throw away", and is considered very bad manners.

Although titles are usually added to names, there are some exceptions. They are not usually used when talking about a family member, or another member of one's "in-group", to someone from outside the group. Inside a group such as a company, the members use titles such as san towards each other. However, when talking to people from outside their company, they do not use the titles when referring to each other. This applies even to superiors. For example, the receptionist, when talking to the company president, will certainly use a title such as shachō or Maeda sama. However, when referring to the president when talking to outsiders, the same receptionist will simply refer to Maeda, without any title.

Common honorific titles

San

San (さん) is the most common honorific title, used when addressing most social outsiders, for example, non-family members. San is used unless the addressee's status warrants one of the other terms mentioned below.

San is often translated as "Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", and the like. San may also be used in combination with things other than the name of the person being addressed. For example, a bookseller might be addressed as honya-san "Mr. Bookseller", and a butcher as nikuya-san "Ms. Butcher".

San is also used when talking about entities such as companies. For example, the offices or shop of a company called Kojima denki might be referred to as "Kojima Denki-san" by another nearby company. This may be seen on the small maps often used in phone books and business cards in Japan, where the names of surrounding companies are written using san.

San is also applied to some kinds of foods. For example, fish used for cooking are sometimes referred to as sakana-san. It is also sometimes applied to animals - a rabbit might be usagi-san.

Both san and its more formal equivalent, sama, imply a kind of familiarity. In formal speech, the title shi may be preferred.

Kun

Kun (君) is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used for males. It is used by superiors in addressing inferiors, by males of roughly the same age and status in addressing each other, and in addressing male children. 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. The use of kun to address male children is similar to san when addressing the boy's parents. Not using kun would be considered rude, but, like san for one's own family, kun is traditionally not used when addressing one's own children.

In the Diet of Japan, diet members and ministers are called kun by the chairpersons. For example, Junichiro Koizumi is called "Koizumi Junichiro kun". The only exception is that when Takako Doi was the chairperson of the lower house, she used the san title.

Chan

Chan (ちゃん) is the informal, intimate, diminutive equivalent of san, used to refer to children and female family members, close friends and lovers. Chan is also used for adults as a title of affection. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the nickname Shuwa chan in Japanese. Similar to kun, chan is not necessarily optional when referring to the female children of others, and it is often avoided when referring to one's own children.

Although it is usually said that honorifics are not applied to oneself, some women refer to themselves in the third person using chan. For example, a young woman named Maki might call herself Maki-chan rather than using a first person pronoun like watashi. Chan is also used for pets and animals, such as usagi-chan.

In the same way that chan is a version of san, there is also chama from sama, typically used for an older person. Non-standard variations of chan include chin (ちん), and tan (たん).

Senpai and kōhai

Senpai (先輩) is used by students to refer to or address senior students in an academic or other learning environment, or in athletics and sports clubs, and also in business settings to refer to those in more senior positions. Kōhai (後輩) is the reverse of this. It is used to refer to or address juniors.

Sensei

Sensei (先生) is used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, or other authority figures. It is also used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill. For example, Japanese manga fans refer to manga artists using the term sensei, as in Takahashi sensei for manga artist Rumiko Takahashi; the term is used similarly by fans of other creative professionals such as novelists, musicians, and artists. It is also a common martial arts title.

Sama

Sama (様) is the formal version of san. This honorific is used primarily in addressing persons much higher in rank than oneself, and in commercial and business settings to address and refer to customers. 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.

Sama is also often 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.

Sama is also used in an arrogant context, as in the arrogant male pronoun ore-sama, "my esteemed self", meaning "I".

Shi

Shi (氏) is used in formal writing, and sometimes in very 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 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 titles

Occupation-related titles

Instead of the above general honorifics, it is fairly common to use the name of the person's job after the name. It is common for sports athletes to be referred to as XXX-senshu (選手) rather than XXX-san. Japanese footballer Robert Cullen is referred to as Karen-senshu. A master carpenter might have the title tōryō (棟梁), meaning "master carpenter", attached to his name, and be referred to as "Suzuki-Tōryō" rather than "Suzuki-San". Television lawyer Kazuya Maruyama is referred to as Maruyama Bengoshi (丸山弁護士) (literally "Maruyama-lawyer") rather than Maruyama-san.

Inside companies, it is also common to refer to people using their company rank, particularly for those of a high rank, such as company president, shachō (社長) or other titles such as buchō (部長), department chief, etc.

Honorific job titles

The name of a job may have two versions. For example, "translator" may be hon'yakuka (翻訳家) or hon'yakusha (翻訳者). Job titles ending in ka (家) usually imply some kind of expertise, thus, by the rules of modesty in Japanese, they are not usually used for oneself. The plain form with sha (者) may be used by the person or in plain text, such as the book title. Use of the ka ending implies respect. Similarly, there are jūdoka (柔道家), or "judo experts" in judo, and manga authors are referred to as mangaka (漫画家) or "manga experts".

In the case of farmers, the old name hyakushō (百姓) (literally "one hundred surnames") is now considered offensive (see kotobagari), and farmers are referred to, and refer to themselves as, nōka (農家), or "farming experts".

Titles for criminals and the accused

Convicted criminals are referred to with the title hikoku (被告) instead of san. For example, Matsumoto hikoku of Aum Shinrikyo. 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's offices informally using the company name plus san. In correspondance, the title onchū (御中) is added to the company name when the letter is not addressed to a specific person in the company. Furthermore, it is considered highly important to mention the status of the company, either incorporated, kabushikigaisha (株式会社), often appreviated with the kanji kabu (株) in brackets, or limited, yūgen gaisha (有限会社), often abbreviated with the kanji yū (有) in brackets either before or after the company's name.

There are also separate words for "our company", heisha (弊社), which literally means "clumsy/poor company", and "your company", kisha (貴社), in writing, or onsha (御社), in speech, which both literally mean "honoured company". Heisha or onsha can also be replaced with the more neutral tōsha (当社), literally "this company", or jisha (自社).

For organizations that provide professional services, such as law or accounting firms, sha may be substituted by jimusho (事務所, meaning "office") in the above constructs.

See also Japanese etiquette.

Dono/tono

Dono and tono (both written 殿) 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.

Ue

Ue (上) 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

Iemoto (家元) 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.

Royal titles

• Heika (陛下) is affixed to the end of a royal title, with a meaning similar to "Majesty". For example, Tennō heika (天皇陛下) means "His Majesty, the Emperor" and Joō heika (女王陛下) means "Her Majesty, the Queen". Heika by itself can also be used as a direct term of address, similar to "Your Majesty".

• Denka (殿下) is affixed to the end of a royal title, with a meaning similar to "Royal Highness" or "Majesty". For example Suuēden Ōkoku Bikutoria Kōtaishi denka (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) means "Your Excellency" and is used for ambassadors and some heads of state.

See also

• Japanese honorifics