Board Thread:Translation Corner/@comment-18812574-20140111064008/@comment-18812574-20140208174850

"Usually, they are only used between close friends"

Uh... actually, that's the opposite there. Honorifics are used for everyone BUT close friends. (A nifty link.)

Maybe I'll end up using both, I don't know yet. I'm trying to incorporate a lot of Japanese vocab into the text of the story itself, (shinai, unagi, etc.) so adding in a "san" here or there probably wouldn't glare out too badly. However, for some things, "Mr." just seems more natrual. (When writing in English, that is.) "Mr. Hat-and-Clogs," for example. But "Mr. Asano," or "Mr. Kurosaki?" That just seemed cheesy to me. Keep iin mind that this was for the narrative prose, not the dialogue. The prose is the hardest for me to figure out here.

Maybe a compromise: "san," etc. for a character speaking in dialogue, no honorifics at all in the text, and "Mr" when more fitting than an honorific. Thoughts?