Why do all their names end with SAN ?

[76561198383104026]

Is it a Yakuza code or why do they address eachother with SAN ending names?

[Tr0w]

Iirc It's similar to saying Mr, when you are bing respectful or formal with someone. San can be changed with Chan or Kun depending on how close people are and such.

[G&L]

San mean like Mr. Ms.Mrs its like a title

[76561198383104026]

A bit similar to American mafia then and how they address associates with: A friend of mine or a friend of ours depending how high they are in the mafia hierachy but also could simply mean Mister ?

[landman]

It's nothing about mafia, every japanese uses these terms.

[Hirate Yurina]

Originally posted by Kingtheft:

San mean like Mr. Ms.Mrs its like a title

honorifics are a bit more complex than that but sort of this. https://takelessons.com/blog/japanese-honorifics-z05
korean and chinese honorifics are even more complex.

[76561198383104026]

Would it be incorrect to call a Japanese man lets say Kazama as Kazama-san in the west instead for Mister Kazama ?

[Arthandas]

Originally posted by Harry Callahan 1:

Would it be incorrect to call a Japanese man lets say Kazama as Kazama-san in the west instead for Mister Kazama ?

Yes because Japanese honorifics are not part of English language. You should use them only when speaking Japanese.

[Skeeka]

Regardless of whether OP's question is genuine or not, this is the cutest thread around here.

[Wozyo]

For a split second I thought it was a bait.

[76561198383104026]

Originally posted by Skeeka:

Regardless of whether OP's question is genuine or not, this is the cutest thread around here.

Its a genuine question, not everyone is Japanese here or understands Japanese traditions, can you blame me for thinking it was some sort of Yakuza code the way they adress eachother as -San all the time ?

[Skeeka]

Yeah, but san as honorific among japanese people is so well-established even in western pop culture that it's kinda hard to believe nonetheless.

[-Шasтe|Мanageмenт-]

Originally posted by Harry Callahan 1:

Its a genuine question, not everyone is Japanese here or understands Japanese traditions, can you blame me for thinking it was some sort of Yakuza code the way they adress eachother as -San all the time ?

Just fyi .

https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/chan-kun-san-and-sama-meanings/

Quick and easy to understand if you don't want to read a whole wikipedia lol

[Duckilous]

Originally posted by sHADY:

For a split second I thought it was a bait.

Better than that other thread that is purely made just to annoy people for no good reason, just like the typical mooks you encounter in the streets of Kamurocho.

Originally posted by Harry Callahan 1:

Is it a Yakuza code or why do they address eachother with SAN ending names?

I'm too lazy to write it in my own words so I'll just copy and paste this info so you can understand one of the Japanese honorifics if you really not sure:

-san
The most common honorific, and the one most familiar to non-Japanese people. Roughly equivalent to most everyday English honorifics, it is generally employed with someone of the same social standing as yourself, but can be used any time you need to be generically polite. This is most commonly equated to the English "Mr." or "Ms." However, it's often dropped entirely in translations, since it's used in contexts where any honorific at all would seem excessively formal in English. (Example: high school students addressing each other with "Mr." or "Ms." would come across as overly formal in an English-speaking setting, whereas it's normal to use -san with fellow classmates in Japanese)

I mean you can just look it up on Google but hey, at least you don't have to now.

[76561198383104026]

Originally posted by Skeeka:

Yeah, but san as honorific among japanese people is so well-established even in western pop culture that it's kinda hard to believe nonetheless.

I have plenty of Japanese fighting games as well as other games but they never say -san in them. Only time I heard it its in this game and Yakuza 4 and 5. Probably in Yakuza 1-3 ? Silly me for thinking it was some sort of Yakuza code. Joke is on me, ok ?

[Laivasse]

Originally posted by Harry Callahan 1:

Originally posted by Skeeka:

Regardless of whether OP's question is genuine or not, this is the cutest thread around here.

Its a genuine question, not everyone is Japanese here or understands Japanese traditions, can you blame me for thinking it was some sort of Yakuza code the way they adress eachother as -San all the time ?

It's cool, the internet often forgets that most of the western world is not as weebified as you'd find in games and online. Come to think of it, you might not be familiar with 'weeb' either - think 'japanophile' but a little more off-putting...

As people have mentioned, '-san' is a society-wide custom like Mr/Mrs to express respect, either because you genuinely respect the person, or they're more senior than you or simply because you don't know them and you're trying to be polite.

Since the yakuza organisations are seen as a family, much like the Italian mob, the yakuza in game usually call eachother 'aniki' or 'kyoudai'. This literally means 'brother' or 'bro', but without the western jockish frat boy connotations. It often goes untranslated in the English text because personal terms of reference are used a lot more in Japanese than would sound natural in English.

They tend to refer to the top boss or their immediate father figures as 'oyassan' which is a local dialect word for a father, bit like 'pops' or 'the old man'. This term comes from oyaji (father) + san, which is the san you were asking about.