This is an informational episode for readers' convenience. It does not contain actual plot / story, but may be helpful for readers' understanding, or if they have any plans to travel to Japan in the future.
TODAY'S TOPIC
Japanese caste system (social hierarchy) & honorifics
If you are already aware of what the Japanese caste system is, and how it and its respective honorifics work, please feel free to skip this chapter.
HONORIFICS INTRO
The Japanese have a social hierarchy or caste system, which has been used as far back as the Heian Period (roughly 794 - 1185 A.D.), that is integral to daily life and social interaction with others. It incorporates honorific speech, which is known as "keishō" ( 敬称 ). Understanding the difference between these honorifics and when to use them is vital for social interactions and first impressions, especially in the business setting.
Yobisute • 呼捨て
( よびすて )
Derived from the Japanese words "yobu" ( よぶ ) meaning “to call” and "suteru" ( すてる ) meaning “to discard”. A term that refers to the lack of, or dropping of honorifics with someone's name, representing extreme closeness between the speaker and the person they are referring to. This is considered very rude and quite taboo if that is not actually the case, and when permission was not given to do so, since it implies a high degree of intimacy or that you find them inferior to you. Generally, it's reserved only for one's spouse / fiancee, younger family members, close friends / confidants, along with social inferiors / pariahs.
Illeism (Speaking about yourself in third person):
The word "illeism" comes from the Latin word "ille," which means "that one / that", and the English suffix "-ism". The earliest known use of the word "illeism" is in the writing of Samuel Taylor Coleridge around 1809. When speaking Japanese, the speaker will use pronoun terms for "I" in place of their name when referring to themselves, but will use the person's name and honorific suffix when referring to someone, instead of the term for "you". To apply an honorific to yourself (basically referring to yourself in the third person) in normal everyday speech is considered either pretentious or babyish. It may also suggest that the speaker has not learned to distinguish between names used for oneself and names used by others. The common exception would be when informing a new acquaintance of your suffix preference (known as part of your introduction "Jikoshoukai" 自己紹介 ). In modern times it has become a cutesy thing young girls may do to appear more innocent or youthful. It is also done by extremely subservient persons, such as monks (whom haven't taken a vow of silence) or priests, to show humility and not appear self-centered.
SUFFIX HONORIFICS
-Heika • 陛下
( へいか )
Highly formal suffix that means "Your Majesty". Used to address the Emperor, Empress, Empress Dowager, or Grand Empress Dowager of the Japanese Imperial Family. Also used to address foreign royalty, such as Queen Victoria.
-Denka • 殿下
( でんか )
Highly formal suffix that means "Your Imperial Highness." Used for princes and princesses of the Japanese Imperial Family.
-Ōjo • 王女
( おじょ )
Highly formal suffic that is used to address a sovereign's daughter. -Ōji is the male equivalent. These suffixes can also be used for princes / princesses not directly in the line of succession of the crown, or illegitimate but acknowledged children of the Emperor.
-Hime • 姫
( ひめ )
Highly formal suffix that means "Young Lady of Noble Birth." Used for women of high nobility, but it can also be used to address a princess.
-Kakka • 閣下
( かっか )
Highly formal suffix that means "Your Excellency." Used to address non-royal heads of state and government and other high-ranking government officials such as ambassadors and cabinet ministers. It can also be used to address other high officials such as the United Nations Secretary General or military generals. Gender-neutral but typically used among men.
-Sama • 様
( さま )
A very formal suffix used to show immense respect / politeness. Usually used to address people who are older or higher social ranking than the speaker. It's commonly used in business / clientele settings, and for people higher in rank than or admired by the speaker. It can also be used to indicate deep respect for deities, honored guests or esteemed clients. Gender-neutral honorific.
-Dono • 殿
( どの )
Formal suffix. Roughly translates to "lord" or "master", and is similar to "m'lord". It's not used very often in daily conversation, but it can still be found in some written business correspondence, certificates, awards, and tea ceremonies. Dono is usually masculine when used since it is an old-fashioned honorific that was more commonly used during the samurai era. The word literally means "mansion," and samurai warlords and important nobles would call each other by the name of the place they lived. For example, if someone's territory was in Kamakura, they would be called "Kamakura-dono". It is less formal than -Sama, but more respectful than -San. It can also be used in a joking manner to exaggerate someone's age.
-Sensei • 先生
( せんせい )
Formal suffix. Literally means "Born Earlier," but is more often used to show respect to someone who is an expert in their respective career field. Used to address teachers, professors, doctors, politicians, lawyers, and other authority figures, along with accomplished novelists, musicians, artists, and martial artists. This suffix can also be used as a stand-alone title or a stand-in for the person's name. Gender-neutral honorific.
-Hakase • 博士
( はかせ )
Formal suffix, similar to -Sensei, but specifically used to address someone who is a doctor, or has achieved their PhD, and has high academic expertise. Less common in use, but holds a higher regard than -Sensei. Gender-neutral honorific.
-Senpai • 先輩
( せんぱい )
Formal suffix, used to address coworkers, colleagues, or classmates who have more seniority or experience than the speaker. Not to be confused with Sensei, who would be superiors, authority figures, or those who hold significantly more authority than a Senpai. This suffix can also be used as a stand-alone title or a stand-in for the person's name. Gender-neutral honorific.
Kōhai • 後輩
( こうはい )
Not a suffix, but a term used to refer to (but never addressed as) coworkers, colleagues, or classmates of the same or lower rank in experience. In a business environment, those with more experience are Senpai. Kohai are addressed using the -san, -kun, or -chan suffixes instead.
-Shi • 氏
( し )
Used in formal writing and sometimes in very formal speech to refer to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person known through publications whom the speaker has never actually met, and is more common in the speech of newsreaders. It is preferred in legal documents, academic journals, and other formal written styles. This suffix can also be used as a stand-alone title or a stand-in for the person's name. Once a person's name has been used with -Shi, the person can be referred to as "Shi" alone, without the name attached, as long as only one person is being referred to. Gender-neutral honorific.
-San
( さん )
A ubiquitous polite suffix that's similar to Mr. / Mrs. / Ms. The general go-to suffix for greeting new people, classmates, coworkers, etc and it can be used for anyone regardless of gender, age, or relation to the speaker. It can also be used to convert common nouns into proper nouns or nicknames, so Neko-san would essentially mean "Mr. Cat." However, if you are corrected to use a different term (such as -Sama or -Kun), to continue using -San would be considered disrespectful, or indicating that you want to distance yourself from the person. Gender-neutral honorific.
-Kun • 君
( くん )
An informal suffix used as a casual term of endearment or closeness and is usually (but not always) masculine. Not to be used with strangers or people you've just met, or it is considered insulting, since it insinuates a closeness that is unearned / incorrect, and condescending. Usually used by either gender to address their close male friends, someone they are emotionally attached to (such as a male love interest), or someone the speaker has known for a long time. It can also be used by people of senior status to address those of junior status (like their Kohai), and when referring to young men, teens, boys, siblings, younger relatives, and pets. An example would be a school teacher addressing their students, or an older coworker addressing their younger male coworkers.
-Chan
( ちゃん )
An informal suffix used as a casual term of endearment or closeness and is usually (but not always) feminine, or used for something the speaker finds cute, endearing, or youthful. Not to be used with strangers or people you've just met, or it is considered to be insulting, since it insinuates a closeness that is unearned / incorrect, and condescending. Usually used by either gender to address their close female friends, someone they are emotionally attached to (such as a female love interest), or someone the speaker has known for a long time. It can also be used by people of senior status to address those of junior status (like their Kohai), and when referring to young women, teens, girls, siblings, younger relatives, babies, grandparents, cute animals / pets, and small things.
-Tan
( たん )
Very informal, less common suffix used to refer to babies or any cute "moe" or "kawaii" anthropomorphisms. This suffix is intended as an even cuter or affectionate variant of -Chan. It evokes a small child's mispronunciation of that form of address, or baby talk, similar to how an English speaker might use "widdle" instead of "little" when speaking to a baby.
-Bō • 坊
( ぼう )
Very informal, less common suffix, also used to express endearment similarly to -Chan. It can be used for young children, but exclusively for boys instead of girls. More cutesy than -Kun.
PREFIX HONORIFICS
O- ( お ) and go- ( ご ) are honorific prefixes used to exalt nouns. They can be applied to things like a garden (oniwa • お庭 ) or to people in conjunction with a suffix, like a doctor (oishasan • お医者さん ). "O-" is used for words with Japanese roots, while "Go-" is used for words with Chinese roots. There are exceptions such as ojōsan ( お嬢さん ), oishasan ( お医者さん ), okyakusama ( お客様 ) where "O-" is used with Chinese words still occur. They are only ever used in the second or third person, and when applied to an object indicate respect for the owner of the object rather than the object itself. For example, one would refer to the parents of another as goryōshin ( ご両親 ) while their own parents would be ryōshin ( 両親 ).
FAMILY-SPECIFIC HONORIFICS
Notice that the "-San" suffix and "O-" prefix are both already built into the word. The "-San" suffix can sometimes be swapped for "-Chan", and the "O-" prefix can be dropped in casual / informal settings, similar to the usage of the English words "Mother" (formal) and "Mom" (casual). The first term of each (listed below) is the Honorific Form, which is used when addressing the person directly, and speaking to them. The second term is the Descriptive Noun Form, which is used when referring to the person, and talking about them while speaking / conversing with others.
Father:
Address them as "Otosan" ( お父さん ). Refer to them as "Chichi" ( 父 ).
Mother:
Address them as "Okaasan" ( お母さん ). Refer to them as "Haha" ( 母 ).
Husband:
Address your own husband as "Tosan" ( 父さん ) if you have children together. When referring to your own husband, you can use "Otto" ( 夫 ), or formally, "Shujin" ( 主人 ). When addressing someone else's husband, use their name and the "-san" suffix. When referring to them, use "Dannasan" ( 旦那さん ), or formally, "Goshujin" ( ご主人 ).
Wife:
Address your own wife as "Kasan" ( 母さん ) if you have children together. When referring to either your own or someone else's wife, use the term "Tsuma" ( 妻 ), or formally, "Okusan" ( 奥さん or おくさん ).
Older brother:
Address them as "Oniisan" ( お兄さん ). Refer to them as "Ani" ( 兄 ). Not to be confused with the term "oni" (demon), so when saying "Oniisan", stretch the "i" sound.
Younger brother:
Address them as "Otoutosan" ( 弟さん ). Refer to them as "Kyoudai" ( きょうだい ). While literally meaning "brotherhood", because it combines the kanji for older and younger brother, it can also be used to refer to brothers, sisters, or siblings of any gender, or as a group.
Older Sister:
Address them as "Oneesan" ( お姉さん ). Refer to them as "Ane" ( 姉 ).
Younger sister:
Address them as "Imotosan" ( 妹さん ). Referring to them by their name with the "-chan" suffix is more common than "Kyoudai".
Uncle:
Address them as "Ojisan" ( おじさん ). Refer to them as "Oji". If older than your parent (their sibling), it's written as ( 伯父 ). If they are younger, then it's written as ( 叔父 ). They are usually referred to, and addressed with, the "-san" honorific suffix in more formal settings. This can also be a general term used for a middle-aged man or gentleman.
Grandfather:
Address them as "Ojiisan" ( おじいさん ). Refer to them as "Sofu" ( 祖父 ). This can also be a general term used for a male senior-citizen. Not to be confused with the term "shōfu" ( 娼婦 ), which means "prostitute" or "harlot". The term "Jiji" ( じじ or ジジー ) has somewhat gone out of style in modern day usage, since it has become an insulting term used to call someone an old, grouchy, and / or annoying elderly man. It is sometimes shortened to GGI online.
Aunt:
Address them as "Obasan" ( おばさん ). Refer to them as "Oba". If older than your parent (their sibling), you can refer to them as "Hakubo" ( 伯母). If they are younger, then you can refer to them as "Shukubo" ( 叔母 ). Either way, they are usually referred to, and addressed with, the "-san" honorific suffix in more formal settings. This can also be a general term used for a middle-aged woman or lady, but it can be considered rude to a younger woman in the same way that the English words "madam" or "ma'am" can be, as if to say they are old. Sometimes the term "Oneesan" (older sister) is used instead, to avoid this issue when the woman's name is unknown. When in doubt, just use their name with the "-san" suffix instead.
Grandmother:
Address them as "Obaasan" ( おばあさん ). Refer to them as "Sobo" ( 祖母 ). This can also be a general term used for a female senior-citizen. The term "Baba" ( ばば or ババー ) has somewhat gone out of style in modern day usage, since it has become an insulting term used to call someone an old, grouchy, and / or annoying elderly woman. It is sometimes shortened to BBA online.
EXAMPLES OF INFORMAL HONORIFIC FORM:
• Nii-kun ( 兄ちくん ), or Nii-san ( 兄さん ): When a child addresses their elder brother.
• Nē-chan ( 姉ちゃん ), or Nē-san ( 姉さん ): When a child addresses their elder sister.
• Bā-chan ( 祖母ちゃん ): When children address their grandmother.
• Jii-chan ( 祖父ちゃん ): When children address their grandfather.
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