Japanese Family Terms – How to Address Your Own Relatives and Others’

In this guide, you will learn the fundamentals of the Japanese family terms, focusing primarily on informal and formal terms. By learning how to use both informal and formal terms, you will be able to talk about your own family (informal) as well as address someone else’s family (formal).

Japanese Family

In Japan, like in any other Asian country, the family is regarded as the most important sector of society. The family members are treated with respect. This is evident in the language used toward them. Each family members have their own name according to one’s relationship with that member.

A Japanese family is made up of immediate family members such as father, mother, and siblings and extended families such as grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, and cousins.

In this guide, we’ll teach you the different Japanese family terms you can use to address your own family members and other people’s family.

“Family” in Japanese

The word for “family” in Japanese is かぞく (kazoku). So when talking about your family, you can say わたしの かぞく (watashi no kazoku) which means “My family”.

For example:

わたし の かぞく は かんこく から きました。(watashi no kazokuwa kankokukara kimashita.)

My family is from Korea. 

わたし の かぞく は たべる の が すき です。(watashi no kazokuwa taberunoga suki desu.)

My family likes to eat.

“Family member” in Japanese

The word “family member” in Japanese is かぞく の いちいん (kazoku no ichiin).

Addressing family members in Japanese

The Japanese have different family words to address family members. The family words vary according to whose family member are you addressing or talking about. The Japanese family words are different when you’re talking about or addressing your own family members and when it’s a member of a different family.

In a while, you’ll be adding a few more words to your Japanese vocabulary.

Addressing your own family

Getting familiar with these terms should be the first step to learning how to address family members in Japanese. These terms are used commonly in Japan, so you will probably hear them quite often throughout day-to-day life.

Remember to use these words when you’re talking about your own family. Use it when you’re in a casual and informal setting or situation.

Immediate family in Japanese

An immediate family is きんしんしゃ (kinshinsha) in Japanese. It’s made up of grandparents, parents, siblings, children, husband, wife, and spouse. In this lesson, we’ll group the Japanese family words according to these groups.

Grandparents in Japanese

Grandparents in Japanese is そふぼ (sofubo). When talking about or addressing your grandfather you can say そふ (sofu) while grandmother is そぼ (sobo).

Parents in Japanese

Parents in Japanese are called りょうしん (ryōshin) while father is ちち (chichi) and mother is はは (haha).

Siblings in Japanese

Siblings are made up of brothers and sisters. Siblings in Japanese are called きょうだい (kyōdai).

Sister in Japanese

There are two ways to say sister in Japanese when talking about your own sister.

You’ll say あね (ane) for your older sister and いもうと (imouto) for your younger sister.

Brother in Japanese

Just like the word sister, there are two ways to say brother in Japanese when talking about your own brother.

You’ll say あに (ani) for your older brother while おとうと (otouto) for your younger brother.

Children in Japanese

Children are called こども (kodomo) in the Japanese language. But they have a specific word used for a female and male child.

Spouse in Japanese

The word spouse is はいぐうしゃ in Japanese. However, in Japan, they have exact words to call their respective spouse.

List of Family Words in Japanese

Here’s the summary of all the Japanese family member vocabulary you’ll use to address your own family.

Relatives in Japanese

To add to your Japanese vocabulary for family members, let’s learn about addressing your relatives. The word relative is translated as しんせき (shinseki).

For example:

そこで おおく の しんせき に あった.  (sokode ookuno shinsekini atta)

I met many relatives there.

あなた の しんせき は どこ に すんでいます か. (anatano shinsekiwa dokoni sundeimasuka)

Where do your relatives live?

Below is a list of people related to your own family in the Japanese language.

In-laws in Japanese

The word “in-law” is いんせき (inseki) in Japanese. However, when it comes to addressing your in-laws, the general rule of thumb is to add “義理の”（ぎりの | giri no）before their relation in the family.

Although “義理の” is not a direct translation of “in-law” (義理 actually refers to the Japanese value of duty and obligation), you can add “義理の” as a prefix to change the relation to “in-law.”

Example sentences:

私の妹は6歳です。

わたし　の　いもうと　は　ろく  さい　です。

Watashi no imōto wa roku sai desu.

My younger sister is 6 years old.

兄は大学教授です。

あに　は　だいがく きょうじゅ　です。

Ani wa daigaku kyōju desu.

My older brother is a university professor.

私は義理の姉がいます。

わたし　は　ぎりのあね　が　います。

Watashi wa giri no ane ga imasu.

I have a (older) sister-in-law.

Addressing someone else’s family

Now that you’re comfortable talking about your own family, next we will look at words that you should use when addressing someone else’s family. As mentioned earlier, there’s a different way of addressing or talking about family members of another family.

Below is a list of Japanese vocabulary for someone else’s family members. A lot of these terms end with an honorific suffix さん (-san) to emphasize respect and politeness toward others.

Remember to use these words especially when you are addressing or talking about someone else’s family. You’ll also use this list of vocabulary when you are in a serious and formal setting or situation.

Tip: If you want to be extra respectful, change the さん (-san) honorific to a 様 (さま –sama) honorific (For example: お父さん otōsan → お父様 otōsama)

Someone else’s immediate family

Below is a table of words you’ll use to address or talk about other’s immediate family members.

Someone else’s relatives

Earlier we learned the vocabulary we need to address people related to our own family. This time, we’ll learn how we can address people related to someone else’s family.

For the word “relative” in the Japanese language, ごしんせき (goshinseki) is used.

Let’s take a close look at the Japanese vocabulary below. Pay close attention to how the written kanji changes for uncle, aunt, and cousin, depending on the context (i.e., older or younger for aunts/uncles and male or female for cousins).

Your in-laws

When addressing someone else’s family members, it’s important to address them respectfully by adding the honorific suffix さん (-san).

Example sentences:

私はあなたのご両親にお会いしたいです。

わたし　は　あなた　の　ごりょうしん　に　おあい したい　です。

Watashi wa anata no goryōshin ni oai shitai desu.

I want to meet your parents.

山田さんのお父様は何をされている方ですか？

やまださん　の　おとうさま　は　なにを　されている　かた　ですか？

Yamada-san no otōsama wa nani o sareteiru kata desu ka?

What does Yamada-san’s father do for a living?

Why learn the Japanese Family Terms?

It’s very important for you to learn the terms used in a family in Japanese. For example, you are at a formal dinner party, and your manager asks you about your family. As you describe some of your family members, you also decide to ask a question about their family. Now, are you going to use the same words that you used to describe your own family when you ask a question about your manager’s family?

It’s not just limited to conversations about your family that make learning the Japanese terms used in a family important. Whether it may be filling out an emergency contact or casually talking about your family at your company’s 歓迎会 (kangei-kai or welcome party), knowing some basic family terms in Japanese should come in handy at some point. But memorizing just a few terms won’t always cut it, as there are different words that are used for different occasions.

Let us know how many members are there in your family in the comment section by using the Japanese family terms you learned today!