Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses an archaic honorific form for “mother” haha-ue (母上) is chosen over the contemporary honorific form o-kā-sama (お母様) and “brothers” is translated as kyōdai-gata (兄弟方), combining “brother” (kyōdai) with the honorific plural suffix -gata (and in the case of Mark 13:32, kyōdai-shimai-gata [兄弟姉妹方] “brothers and sisters” with the same plural suffix is used). The verbs in these verses (“meet,” “see,” “speak” respectively) are also preceded by the honorific prefixes go- or o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )