6/9     Serious question: I sometimes email co-workers in Japan. Should
        I append -san to a person's name when addressing them in email?
        I see other people doing that, but I don't know what it means.
        \_ Serious answer, -san I believe is how you address someone politely.
           For example, Noburi-san may mean Mr. Noburi or something, even
           though Noburi may be a first name. It's just a custom there. Note
           that this applies when addressing a male (esp. if he's older than
           you)
           \_ what if they are the head of a lab and have a phd? is
              there an equivalent to "Dr." in common use?
              \_ XX-kyoju is how you address somebody who is a professor. If
                 you are not sure if they are a professor, you can say
                 XX-sensei. -- ulysses
              \_ XX-kyoju is how you address somebody who is a professor. If you
                 are not sure if they are a professor, you can say XX-sensei.
                  -- ulysses
                  \_ so if someone haves the same rank in the field as
                     a professor, but does not teach at a university(head
                     of a lab in industry) can you still use sensei?
                     i thought sensei meant teacher, directly translated.
        \_ Yep, especially if they have an umbrella:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20020609/od_nm/umbrella_dc_1
           \_ Remember, umbrellas don't kill people, people kill people!
        \_ just ask the others why they do it to see if you should too.
        \_ email their hookers. it's classier.
           \_ email them hookers, it's more appreciated.
        \_ Yes.  If you don't, it can be taken as disrespectful.  And you
           should address women with -san too.
           \_ unless you are Kenshin, in which case you must use -dono
        \_ Do they address you the same way?  Address them the same way they
           do you.  Or you could take the When In Rome approach.  You're in
           America.  We don't add -san to emails.
                \_ Yup, it's all about expectations and these woolly samurai
                   don't expect you to pretend you know their culture.