As you'll have noticed, the Japanese language is very precise in the designation of each thing. It can even seem very "codified" to the uninitiated.
The designation of people is no exception. When you greet someone, take care to add a suffix to address them. It's not easy to find your way around, but we'll try to go over the most important language elements to remember.
Why use names and suffixes?
Using suffixes and names to address an individual is totally part of the Japanese's linguistic habits. And there are two major advantages to recognise in this practice. On one hand, it makes it possible to identify your interlocutor very clearly, but it's also a mark of respect... and respect never hurts.
This way of addressing one another is adopted as much in the private sphere as in a professional setting or with complete strangers. More complex than our simple "Sir" and "Madam", the name or suffix is generally attached to the person's first name.
Who and how?
Within the family
Respect is already the order of the day with these close ones. And when you want to address someone in your family, you must use the name stipulating their status in relation to you.
But of course, the terms change when you want to talk about the members of a family other than your own.
Within your close circle
For boys: a friend, schoolmate, little brother or any boy younger than yourself.
For girls: a friend, a schoolmate, a little sister or younger girl too. But also as an affectionate suffix for a grandmother or a woman one is courting.
With strangers or in your distant circle
It's the most formal of the suffixes. It's used for people with high status, such as kings/queens and deities in particular. But it's also found in certain contexts such as commerce, where the customer may be addressed this way, suggesting that "the customer is king".
It's the reference suffix, since it's the equivalent of our "Sir" and "Madam" (without differentiation by gender). It's mainly used with the family name when the person is completely unknown to us, but it can be attached to the first name when it's someone from our distant circle. It maintains the mark of respect in any case.
Initially used among the nobility and for the samurai, it can be found today only on certain official/administrative documents. It's a middle ground between "-sama" and "-san".
In the professional world
Take a few notes or learn them and you'll be ready for your future trip to Japan! The easiest way to absorb them is, of course, practice.
