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In a professional setting, would two professors/doctors/lawyers—who would normally be addressed as "sensei"—refer to each other (as peers) using "sensei"?

Note: This question used to be asking about Japanese formality in English. Now I'm just interested on how sensei would be used in this context in spoken Japanese.

ESultanik
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    This is bordering on what would belong on ELU and maybe off-topic for JLU, but I'm not voting close on border cases either way, you might get a better answer on ELU however. – Ken Li Aug 17 '11 at 16:01
  • Will give the community a bit to post their opinion, but in mine, this is unfortunately 100% off-topic. Indeed ELU is the closest there might be. For the record, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a "Dear Prof. X" or "Dear Dr. X" (but you would probably not use "sensei", even in Japanese, for somebody you do not address as Prof. in an academic context). "Dear X" sounds a bit familiar and very American to my ear (which has nothing to do with Japanese). – Dave Aug 17 '11 at 16:14
  • Yeah, I wasn't sure if this was on topic. This is really a question about Japanese etiquette, so I am not sure if I'd get much help on ELU, which is why I posted it here. – ESultanik Aug 17 '11 at 16:37
  • I clarified the question to hopefully make it more on-topic. – ESultanik Aug 17 '11 at 16:44
  • When writing in English, follow the English etiquette; when writting in Japanese, follow the Japanese etiquette. –  Aug 17 '11 at 18:21
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    Agreed with sawa. In addition, while using 'sensei' in English informal conversation may be fine, using it in English formal writing is a bit inappropriate, IMHO. If "Dear Dr. [SURNAME]" belies your acquaintance, would "Dear Dr. [FIRSTNAME]" work for you? – Lukman Aug 17 '11 at 23:25
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    @sawa, I think this question is "what is the Japanese etiquette for this situation?" – Troyen Aug 18 '11 at 01:56
  • @Troyen That is my point. The question is about sending an email in English, and asking for Japanese etiquette. My comment is saying that such question is useless. –  Aug 18 '11 at 02:02
  • @ESultanik: sorry, closing your question for now, as its formulation is still way too unclear: it still sounds like you are asking about how to address that person in English (which has nothing to do on JLU). If that is not the case, please edit accordingly and I'll be happy to reopen... – Dave Aug 18 '11 at 02:03
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    @sawa I don't think the English etiquette is always applicable simply because there is such a big difference in formality that it might come across as crude or offensive, but a debate on that is probably off-topic. – Troyen Aug 18 '11 at 02:15
  • @Troyen If the English etiquette is inappropriate in this situation, then writing in English is as well. –  Aug 18 '11 at 02:20
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    @All-closers: Disagree on closing for off-topic. This site is called "Japanese Language **& Usage**". He's asking how he can **use** part of the Japanese language. Just because he's using it within the context of an English letter does not diminish its relationship to the Japanese language. Voting to reopen. – istrasci Aug 18 '11 at 03:40
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    @istrasci: he is asking how to use a Japanese word in an English letter, which (beside probably not being a great idea, style-wise), still has nothing to do with JLU: the same question *in a Japanese letter* would be. – Dave Aug 18 '11 at 05:46
  • I've already sent the E-mail, so that part of this question is basically moot now. Therefore, out of curiosity, I've re-worded the question such that it isn't asking about English anymore, which I believe should make it on topic. – ESultanik Aug 18 '11 at 11:51
  • Not the same question, but related: [Is the use of 先生 and similar titles context sensitive?](http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/423/is-the-use-of-and-similar-titles-context-sensitive) – Tsuyoshi Ito Aug 18 '11 at 12:44

1 Answers1

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(now that the question is finally on-topic, I am happy to contribute my 2 yens ;-)

The general use of 先生 (sensei) when addressing a professor/doctor/etc. is already discussed elsewhere on JLU... As for the particular case of writing to someone who is your peer (in rank and range of age), the answer is:

No you do not have to use it.

My colleagues/bosses (themselves Drs. and/or Profs.) usually do not use 'sensei' (only 'san') when mentioning or talking to another Dr./Prof.

Of course, if the professor in question is some famous old professor (or simply an authority figure to the speaker), 'sensei' is used as a form of politeness.

The bottom line is that you use 'sensei' just the same as you would 'Prof.' in English: you would probably call your (possibly tenured) lab neighbour "John", but your advisor or some visiting professor will get "Prof. Smith".

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Dave
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