02/11/2016
One of the most difficult aspects of the J*panese language is 'keigo' or honorific language. How you address someone, how you refer to yourself, the verbs you use, etc., can change entirely depending on whether you're talking to someone who's your superior or subordinate, younger than you or older than you, someone you're serving or who's serving you.
An example that people who know the movie The Karate Kid (amusingly called Best Kid or more accurately Besuto Kiddo in J*pan) would be familiar with is Mr. Miyagi's addressing of Daniel as Daniel-san. In a J*panese teacher-student relationship Mr. Miyagi (or Miyagi-sensei, as he would be addressed) would never give Daniel the honorific -san. He would address him as Daniel-kun. It's most likely the producers of the movie went with -san because it's more familiar to American audiences and sounds better. Also, if you're a Karate Kid/Mr. Miyagi fan you can even see how Mr. Miyagi's deference and respect for Daniel would match his character, so while technically wrong it's probably the better choice in that situation. By the way, since -kun is usually (there are exceptions) only used for boys/men, girls/women are often addressed with -san even if they are junior in age or position.
This article is a great introduction to understanding keigo and perhaps the ultimate situation in keigo.
http://www.nippon.com/en/nipponblog/m00113/
When service assistants talk to customers in J*pan, they show courtesy by using honorific language, known as keigo. If the customer is king, appropriate deference is required. A discrepancy in rank—whether in a brief service interaction or within a company—brings into play different vocabulary than…
Japanese to English translation and copywriting agency with a focus on the internet, technology, and Japanese English Translation & Copywriting
