![]() ![]() Friends can also refer to each other by kun in a casual context and women can use it to address a man to whom they are very close. Kun is used by a person of a higher status towards a younger male or a child. Once again, you should always keep in mind the implied hierarchy of a title. The informal kun (君) is strictly reserved to young men or juniors although, in a business context, young women can be called “kun” by their superior. Formal Japanese can be confusing and complex, please take a look at our guide on Japanese Keigo ( Formal Japanese) to learn the proper way of speaking in formal Japanese Kun (くん) You easily understand why the Japanese deities are referred to as “kami sama”. This title is also a part of several set of phrases such as “ ostukaresama” or “omachidou sama”. In order to address a group of persons or an audience with respect, sama is attached to “mina” (everyone). When you send a letter, the recipient’s name will be followed by the kanji “様”. This is since the implied superiority of the guest or customer is very strong. Sama is the respectful version of san, mostly used in business and clientele context. For example, a baker could be called by “pan ya san” (literally Mr bread shop). The usage of san is very wide: the suffix can be added to a person’s characteristic and entities such as a company. San is certainly the first honorific title you will learn when studying Japanese or going to Japan. Check out our Business Japanese Courses if you are interested in learning business Japanese! Workplace Honorifics San (さん) Instead of saying Tanaka san”, you would say “Tanaka shacho” to speak about your company president. Japanese Honorifics In the Workplaceīeware of the Japanese working environment! In traditional Japanese companies and workplaces, instead of honorific titles, Japanese workers can be addressed by their work titles. However, you will find that Japanese honorific titles are more complicated to use than it looks and that they cannot be so easily translated. San, the most common one, could be translated as “Mr.”, “Mrs.” and “Ms.” and is gender neutral. ![]() As you may know, Japanese society values hierarchy and someone of higher status may drop the honorific title. You will use the suffix when referring to your interlocutor or to someone else in your conversation. In doubt, better stay safe and go with the person’s family name. A Japanese honorific title is a suffix that goes after the person’s name as in “Satou (name) san (honorific)” to raise this person up. ![]() In Japan, most of the time people call each other by their family name rather than their given names. Let’s classify the most frequently used honorific titles such as san, sama, kun and chan…Ĭurious about how to say “you” in Japanese too? Avoid calling your boss “darling” and check out our guide on how to address other people in Japan (besides anata, of course)! Contents: To navigate Japanese society smoothly, you should better understand how important it is to properly use them. Indeed, to address someone or speak about someone, you need to use the “Japanese honorific title”. ![]()
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