I am often confused about all the –kuns, –chans, and other name attachments in subtitles. These are called honorifics. They are roughly the same as our own Mister, Miss, Madam, and Sir. Although for the Japanese they tell a lot more about the relationships between people.
Honorifics are gender neutral, but some are used more for one gender than the other. Kun, for example, is used more for males while chan is for females. Honorifics are generally required when referring to someone, but sometimes they must be dropped altogether. It’s pretty confusing.
Not using an honorific or referring to oneself with one is considered poor speech. It can come off as clumsy or even arrogant. They are generally used when speaking directly to someone or when referring to a unrelated third party. Such as when you are talking about someone. David-san now has a girlfriend.
Dropping an honorific denotes intimacy with the person you are talking with. This is done with spouses, younger family members, very close friends, or social inferiors. They are also dropped when talking about a family member with a non-family member.
Honorifics are usually coupled with polite speech suffix -masa and desu.
San (さん) – this is the most common honorific. It is a title of respect between equals. It is the English equivalent of Mr, Miss, Ms. It can also be attached to animals and objects, but that usage considered childish. usagi-san translates roughly to Mr. Rabbit. It can also be used to refer to someone who works at a certain place. honya-san (“bookstore” + san) translates to “bookseller.”
Chan (ちゃん) – this suffix shows the speaker finds a person endearing. Using chan with a superior’s name is considered rude and condescending. Generally it is used for babies, teenager girls, young children, and grandparents. It can also be attached to animals. It denotes cuteness, lovers, close friends, or any young woman. Young women may use it to refer to themselves to appear cute and childish.
Kun (くん) – used by people of senior status to refer to people of junior status or by anyone when referring to male children or teenagers. Women may also used the term when referring to a guy they are emotionally attached or known a long time. Kun isn’t male exclusive, but mostly used for male references.
Sama (さま) -much more respectful than san. This term is used to refer to people much higher in status than oneself, customers, or someone you greatly admire. When used to refer to oneself it can either come off as supremely arrogant or self effacing depending on the context.
Senpai (せんぱい) – refers to people with more experience than oneself. Also used for higher grade classmates. So a junior in high school would call a senior senpai.
Kōhai (こうはい) – refers to a person as a junior. So a senpai may attach this to a junior’s name. This generally isn’t used.
Sensei (せんせい) – one of the most recognizable honorifics. It refers to someone who as attained a high mastery of something.
Shi (し) – used to refer to someone a writer hasn’t met. Only used in formal writing. It is used as shorthand to refer back to the person originally referenced as long as there is only a single reference.
Ue (上) – literally means “above”. It shows utmost respect. It is seldom used, but it is found in some phrases like chichi-ue and haha-ue. Reverent terms for father and mother. Or when referring to a nameless customer, ue-sama.
Phew. It’s pretty difficult to keep all these rules straight. Japan is a highly stratified society. These suffix help keep status and one’s opinion of others clear. Of course, the waters are muddied a little. Senpai-kohai relations may reverse in context to different clubs or organizations, depending on how long one or the other was in the organization.
Honorifics can be a quick shorthand to show how characters related to each other in anime…if you can keep them straight. However, good stories don’t have to rely on honorifics to show character relationships.
