Really Random Question

[redbrunja]

If you were a student in a dojo, what would you call your fellow students of equal rank? Is there a specific term for them?

Comments

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

I think just the surname attached with the suffix 'kun'. I don't believe there's a title for an equal: sempai, kohai, and sensei/shishou are it for positions.


*might be wrong*

[nimblnymph.livejournal.com]

Following with the above, the chan and kun siffixes are generally used for younger people who are on a friendly basis, or really close friends that you've known for a long time. It's not really dimunitive to use "chan" for a young girl (think age range 2-16/18) and "kun" is the male equivalent of that. You normally wouldn't use kun for a girl because it's denoting that she's a bit masculine. The ONLY time this can really be seen as derogatory is if the person being addressed is of an age where "cutesy" names are inappropriate, i.e. when the frogs call Jiraiya "Jiraiya-kun". Technically, they can call him that because to them he IS a "child", but it's really not appropriate for his age and current rank. It CAN also be used on occassion for people in the same organization, but only in a boss/employee sense. Also, in the example of Tsunade and Jiraiya, it would be okay for her to call him kun because they basically grew up together.

San is used for people/peers you respect, such as coworkers you're on good terms with but don't regularly hang out with, bosses or just someone you admire. It's a little like saying "miss", "ms" or "mr", whereas chan and kun are a little more like "pal", "doll", "cutie", etc. That last example isn't exact in its interpretation, but English really doesn't have an equivalent to it. Anyway, if the people in the dojo are on good terms but not so much that they would use a first name basis (that is a VERY big honor in Japanese culture), then this is the one you'd want to use.

The sempai/kohai relationship is mostly used between colleagues or people in the same group but of different ranks/respect status. Perfect example of this is kakashi and Yamato. Kakashi is the sempai here because he's more experienced and has a higher rank in the same organization as Yamato (ANBU). Yamato is the kohai for the opposite reasons as listed above. HOWEVER, it also denotes a fondness/friendship between the people, as in they'll hang out a bit more than a person with the "san" suffix would. The sempai is also a sort of "older brother/sister" or mentor figure to the kohai. You'd probably want to use this if the people in the dojo are of different ranks but they work together closely.

Sensei/Shishou are kind of tricky suffixes. They both mean teacher/master, but shishou is a bit more personal than sensei. Shishou is generally used for a very dear, very close mentor/teacher, such as the relationship between Sakura and Tsunade. Tsunade works with her one-on-one and their relationship is a bit more personal than that of a normal teacher/student. Kakashi is addressed as sensei because, though he does teach her (play along here, okay?), it's more because it's his job than anything else. Sensei is perhaps a little more formal and used for mentors that you don't really view as a sort of father/mother figure. What makes these two a little tricky is that Shishou is usually used for people you respect as much as a "sama". It denotes extreme respect as well as a personal closeness.

And of course sama is to show the highest form of respect for someone. Usually, it's used for VPs and presidents, officials, CEOs... that sort of thing. You probably don't want this for the dojo.

Anyway, sorry it's long but I hope it helps. If it doesn't, I'll try and dig out my Japanese book for a more professional answer.