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Working in a Japanese based company I often see that in written English which is (directly or indirectly) addressed to Japanese the suffix -san is attached to names.

With some basic knowledge of Japanese I have some understanding how -さん is used in Japanese. Having in mind that it would seem unnatural for me to encounter Herr Müller instead of Mr. Müller in an English text I am wondering how natural it is for a Japanese to see -san being used in an English conversation a) attached to a (romanized) Japanese name or b) attached to an English/German/... name.

I hope this question will not be marked as opinion-based because I am actually interested in a general answer to help improve my conversation with Japanese people.

elzell
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    Well, whether it's opinion-based or not, it's not related to Japanese, right? I mean, it's about communication in English. – Leebo Apr 30 '18 at 13:04
  • @Leebo I see your point, but does it not rather fit here than -say- the English language stackexchange? – elzell Apr 30 '18 at 13:25
  • It's a dupe of an already closed question: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/28259/28162 – ratchet freak Apr 30 '18 at 15:12
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    Possible duplicate of [How to address and greet Japanese people in an english email](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/28259/how-to-address-and-greet-japanese-people-in-an-english-email) – ratchet freak Apr 30 '18 at 15:12
  • I know it's been answered elsewhere, but a point of note is to greet people based on the conventions of the language being used. Saying "Ms. Nakamura-san" is sort of like saying "Ms. Ms.Nakamura" which is nonsensical – psosuna Apr 30 '18 at 20:50

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San is often used in informal e-mail. San or Kun is maybe good to show friendliness. This depends on the custom of the organization.For me, it seems a little strange. I always feel why you suddenly use Japanese in English email?. In my mind,it sounds like the foreign people's unnatural pronunciation.

Koreyuki
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