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USE Correct use of titles is considered very important in Japan. In most situations, omitting a title when calling someone, called (literally, "call and leave off title ") 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 President Maeda as ''Maeda'', without any title. Honorific titles are also usually dropped when referring to historical figures, although awarded titles, such as military titles, are sometimes used. COMMON HONORIFIC TITLES ''San'' 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. Note: is the '' Kyoto and, more widely, Kansai Dialect's '' equivalent of ''san''. ''Kun'' is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used towards males. It is used by persons of senior status in addressing those of junior status, by males of roughly the same age and status when addressing each other, and by anyone in addressing male children. In business settings women, particularly young women, may also be addressed as ''kun'' by older males of senior status. It is sometimes used towards male pets as well. 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 the use of ''san'' when addressing adults. In other words, not using ''kun'' would be considered rude, but, like ''san'' for members of one's own family, ''kun'' is traditionally not used when addressing one's own son (unless ''kun'' is part of a nickname: Akira-kun—''Akkun'') or when referring to one's own child in conversations with others. In the Diet Of Japan , diet members and ministers are called ''kun'' by the chairpersons. For example, Junichiro Koizumi is called "Koizumi Jun'ichirō-kun". The only exception is that when Takako Doi was the chairperson of the lower house, she used the ''san'' title. ''Chan'' is the informal, intimate, diminutive equivalent of ''san,'' used to refer to female children, close friends (primarily female, but also male), and other persons with whom one is intimate. ''Chan'' may 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 traditionally avoided when referring to one's own daughter. Although traditionally honorifics are not applied to oneself, some young women occasionally develop the habit of referring 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' names and when referring to animals, such as ''usagi-chan'' (rabbit+chan) when speaking to small children. 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 , and . The Japanese media use ''chan'' too when mentioning pre-elementary school children and sometimes elementary-school girls. ''Senpai'' and ''kōhai'' 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. is the reverse of this. It is used to refer to or address juniors, though it might be considered somewhat insulting or overly condescending in some circles to refer to someone as kōhai directly. ''Sensei'' is used to refer to or address teachers, practitioners of a profession such as doctors and lawyers, politicians, and other authority figures. It is 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 when referring to the instructor. ''Sensei'' can also be using fawningly, as evinced by adherents in addressing or talking about charismatic business, political, and religious leaders (especially unordained ones). Japanese speakers will also use the term sarcastically to ridicule overblown or fawning adulation of such leaders, and the Japanese media frequently invoke it (rendered in Katakana , akin to Scare Quotes or Italics in English) to highlight the Megalomania of those who allow themselves to be sycophantically addressed with the term. A further, similar use is to address or refer to someone who acts in a self-important or -aggrandizing manner. ''Sama'' 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 appears in words used to address or speak of persons or objects for which the speaker wishes to show respect or deference, such as ''okyaku-sama'' (customer) or ''Tateishi-sama'' (a stone revered as a deity). People will also affix ''sama'' to the names of personages who have a special talent and are considered particularly attractive, though this usage can also be tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated, or even ironic. Examples include "Tanaka-sama" to refer to a young man named Tanaka who is considered rather handsome by his admirers and the "Leo-Sama" (or "''Reo''-sama") that has become the media's pet name for Leonardo DiCaprio . Further, ''sama'' can be used to express arrogance (or self-defacing irony), such as in the arrogant male Pronoun ''ore-sama'' ("my esteemed self") for "I". ''Sama'' also follows the addressee's name on postal packages and letters and is frequently seen in business e-mails. It is worth noting that the ''sama'' appearing in such set phrases as ''o-machidō sama'' ("sorry to keep you waiting"), ''o-tsukare sama'' (an expression of empathy for people who have been working long and hard), and ''go-kuro sama'' (an expression recognizing someone's labors), though written with the same Kanji , is etymologically and semantically distinct from the ''sama'' used as term of address. ''Shi'' is used in formal writing, and sometimes in very formal speech, for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person known through publications whom 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- rather than XXX-san. Japanese footballer Robert Cullen is referred to as ''Karen-senshu''. A master carpenter might have the title , 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 by television presenters and in promotional literature as (literally "Maruyama-lawyer"), but would be called ''Maruyama-sensei'' by a private client. A minority of educated Japanese now prefer to address their attorneys as ''XXX-bengoshi'' because the traditional appellation ''XXX-sensei'' is felt to be unduly deferential. 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, ' or other titles such as ', department chief, etc. Honorific job titles The name of a job may have two versions. For example, "translator" may be or . Job titles ending in , literally "house", 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 , literally "person", 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 , or "judo experts" in Judo , and Manga authors are referred to as or "manga experts". In the case of farmers, the old name (literally "one hundred surnames") is now considered offensive (see Kotobagari ), and farmers are referred to, and refer to themselves as, , or "farming experts". Honorific job titles such as ''sensei'', which is applied to teachers, doctors and lawyers, also have plain forms. For example, in plain language, a teacher is a , a doctor is an or and a lawyer is . The polite versions are used when addressing or talking about the person, but the plain forms are used when referring to their profession. Titles for criminals and the accused Convicted criminals were once referred to without any title, though today with the title for Political Correctness . For example, '' Matsumoto -hikoku'' of Aum Shinrikyo . Suspects awaiting trial are referred to by the title for the same reason. These title ware made for political correctness, however, they have become derogatory during time. When Goro Inagaki was arrested for a traffic accident in 2001, some media referred him with the new-made title , originating from the English word ''member'', for "special solicitude". This title was criticized as an unnatural term and became derogatory almost instantly. The title ''jukeisha'' (受刑者) indicates a criminal serving a sentence. Titles for companies As mentioned above, companies often refer to each other's offices informally using the company name plus ''san''. In correspondence, 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 , , often abbreviated with the kanji in brackets, or Limited , , often abbreviated with the kanji in brackets either before or after the company's name. There are also separate words for "our company", , which literally means "clumsy/poor company", and "your company", , in writing, or , in speech, which both literally mean "honoured company". ''Heisha'' or ''onsha'' can also be replaced with the more neutral , literally "this company", or . 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 . Note: Fans of anime and manga may notice that the use of this honorific is not uncommon. It often comes up in two forms. # submissive -- Using its "lord" or "master" roots, this form of dono is often considered to show slightly less respect than sama, but more than san. In the anime Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki , the character Mihoshi is addressed by her computer unit as "Mihoshi-dono." # equal -- This form of dono is used by a powerful/important person to address another powerful/important person with a great deal of respect without elevating the addressee above the addresser. In the anime Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki , the characters of Seto-sama and Washu address the main character Tenchi as "Tenchi-dono" out of respect for his great abilities. ''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'' '''' is an even more polite version of ''sensei'' used for the highest ranking person heading a school or group in traditional art forms such as calligraphy, flower arrangement or tea ceremony. ''Sessha'' ''Sessha'' (拙者) is not a title, but a humble First-person Personal Pronoun previously used by male members of the Samurai Class . It is rarely heard today except in period Drama or when someone is attempting to be ironic or sound amusing. It literally means "oafish one." ''Sessha'' finds use in the popular anime Rurouni Kenshin . Royal titles
Martial Arts Titles Martial Artists often use Sensei to distinguish instructors of a particular Ryu . Junior and Senior students are often organized via a sempai/kohai system. Other titles are conferred loosely and under no particular standardization. They often follow the commonly used black belt or Dan system of ranking. The usage of these titles is quite common outside of Japan and is subject to much interpretation. The following explanations assume that Judan (10th degree black belt) is the top rank within a style, and these are loosely defined.
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