Japanese Honorifics

Japanese Honorifics

The Japanese language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Amano-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral (can be used for males and females), though some are more used for men or women (-kun is primarily used for males, while -chan is primarily used for women) and can be attached to first names as well as surnames, for example, Peter-san, Jessica-san, Smith-san. Using an honorific is generally required when referring to someone, but in some cases it can be dropped or must not be used—see usage notes below.