Japanese personal address uses a system of honorific suffixes that carry information about the speaker's relationship to the addressee, their relative social rank, and their emotional register. Manga and anime use these suffixes routinely; translation choices about whether to preserve, adapt, or drop them have been a stable point of editorial disagreement since the form first reached non-Japanese readers.
The core suffixes
- -san (γγ) β the unmarked polite default. Used between adults who are not close friends, between coworkers, and from younger to older speakers across most situations. Roughly equivalent in social weight to using 'Mr./Ms.' in English, though in Japanese it is used with given names as well as surnames.
- -kun (ε) β used predominantly for younger men and boys, or between male peers, and from a senior to a junior in workplace settings.
- -chan (γ‘γγ) β diminutive and intimate. Used for children, between close friends, and within families; carries strong familiarity or affection.
- -sama (ζ§) β distinctly respectful. Used for customers, deities, social superiors at a formal level. Frequent in fantasy and historical settings.
- -senpai (ε θΌ©) β for those senior to the speaker in a hierarchical institution (school, workplace, club).
- -sensei (ε η) β for teachers, doctors, masters of a craft, and authors. Functions as both a suffix and a standalone term of address.
Dropping the suffix (yobisute)
Addressing someone without any suffix β called yobisute (εΌγ³ζ¨γ¦) β carries social weight. In a story it typically signals either deep intimacy or, more rarely, disrespect. In manga, a character switching from 'Tanaka-san' to plain 'Tanaka' is a recognised cue that the relationship has changed.
Translation conventions
Translation approaches to honorifics differ. Some publishers preserve suffixes in romanised form throughout ('Tanaka-san'); others convert to English equivalents ('Mr. Tanaka'); some convert in some contexts and preserve in others. Each approach has trade-offs: preserving suffixes carries cultural information but raises the barrier to entry for new readers; converting loses information that subsequent plot developments may rely on. There is no industry standard.