Welcome to the Nihongo Lesson feature. We strive to give you useful manga-based Japanese language tips and maybe even a glimpse into the translation process. This week’s lesson will focus on honorifics in manga. If you’ve ever wondered about what the following terms mean when they appear in manga and anime, we’ve got your back. Your SENPAI on TEAM JUMP have noticed you and are ready to answer your questions!

SENPAI (せんぱい)

SENPAI usually refers to a senior in a work or school setting. The person doesn’t necessarily have to be older—if they have more seniority then they can also be SENPAI. Good examples of SENPAI in Weekly Shonen Jump are Tamakoma-1 in World Trigger. Tamakoma-1 are the SENPAI of Tamakoma-2 and mentor them in various squad positions. Interestingly enough, Arafune in World Trigger is Ko’s SENPAI because even though Ko is one of the best Attackers at Border, Arafune mentored him and has been at Border longer. This SENPAI thing can be pretty intense.

KOHAI (こうはい)

KOHAI usually refers to someone who is younger or less experienced in a work or school setting. KOHAI is essentially the opposite of SENPAI, and the two are meant to be used together. All of the first-year students in Food Wars! are the KOHAI of the Council of Ten. All of the C-Rank and B-Rank agents are the KOHAI of the A-Ranks in World Trigger, and even the A-Ranks have their own KOHAI who look up to various SENPAI in their own ranks. There are plenty of Shonen Jump KOHAI for the SENPAI to notice.

SAN/CHAN/KUN (さん、ちゃん、くん)

SAN, CHAN, and KUN are suffixes that come after a person’s name to denote their social position. SAN can be roughly translated as Mr., while CHAN and KUN are used for younger girls and boys, respectively. Depending on the region in Japan, there may be different suffixes for a person’s name. In last week’s chapter of Food Wars!, Terunori Kuga kept referring to Soma as “Yukihira-chin.” “Chin” is like an even cuter version of CHAN. It makes Kuga stand out as a goofy character, but it also shows that he has almost no respect for Soma. We’ll see if he sticks with chin after Soma smacks him down in a shokugeki!

Get more tips by listening to our PODCAST!