I thought it would be interesting to talk about the particles you can find at the end of names from time to time. This can be obvious for people used to read manga and watch anime, but for some of my readers, it's not always easy.

Japanese use suffixes that they attach to people's names, may it be to call them or talk about them. They are not always easy to translate in English, and are kept in the english edition of Blind Spot.

Here is a list of some of them, the main ones used in the story.

  • -san : Politeness. Someone with -san behind its name is seen as a person you respect and don't know very well. This can also be used at your workplace to designate someone higher in the hierarchy. This is a little like "Mister" or "Miss". Not using it when talking about someone shows some kind of intimacy between you and the person you're tlaking about.
  • -kun : That's the contrary of -san in a workplace environment: you're speaking about something below yourself. It is also used to name males. For example Ayako calls Ogata Shu "Ogata-kun". It is sometimes used for girls too, in a workplace environment. A teacher can call a student like this even if it is a girl.
  • -chan : Very familiar, used mainly on little girls or between close people. You'll notice that Karen is not using -chan on Ayako, while Shizuka does almost everytime. -chan is also used between lovers, even if it's a girl calling a boy like that. Obviously not in public :)
  • -sensei : Teacher, professor, doctor. Someone who has the knowledge.
  • -sama : Very honorific, almost never used, except for joking. For example, God is called "kami-sama".

A little bonus now...

  • sempai : Also written "senpai". A sempai is someone who works in the company or is a student at school for longer than yourself. First years often call Second years "sempai".
  • kouhai : A kouhai is simply the contrary of sempai.