Japanese Call You by Your Last Name

What are you called by your family and friends? Is it your first name? Is it your last name? Or do they call you by your nickname? In the U.S., I think most people call people by their first names. In Japan, however, it is the opposite, and people often call you by your last name.

Calling Japanese by their first name is rude

If you call Japanese by their first name less than 10 minutes after meeting them, they may feel a little confused in Japanese communication. It is also rude for a younger person to call out their name to a superior or an older person. According to some data, more than half of people feel uncomfortable being called by first name by people they do not get along with.

Diversity of Family Names

There are many theories about the types of family names the Japanese have, and it is said that there are 100,000 or 300,000 types, but this number is outstandingly high compared to other Asian countries.Considering the relatively small total population, the large number of family names is said to be rare in the world. Therefore, even if you call them by their family names, they can understand who you are talking about, so there are many opportunities to use family names.

The way you call someone shows closeness and distance

In Japanese communication, as I mentioned above, there are many different ways of calling someone, and they are used in different ways depending on the person. This is said to be very characteristic of the language. By listening to the way they call and are called, we can understand their relationship and closeness to the person. Even though they have not talked to each other about it, the way they call each other is naturally determined by their relationship.