Have you ever wondered what "onii-chan," "onee-chan," "onii-san," "onee-san," and other variations mean in Japanese? Do you know the meaning of "imouto," "otouto," "kyoudai," and "shimai"? Have you ever heard the term "aniki"? Do you know how to say "brother" and "sister" in Japanese?
Previously, we wrote an article about the membros da família em japonês. In this article, we will do an in-depth research to understand the meaning and the difference of these words.
The relationship between younger and older siblings is highly valued in Japan. Japanese culture often portrays younger sisters affectionately addressing their older brothers as "onii-chan" in anime.
Have you ever noticed how anime exaggerate this little sister scheme? Most of the time they are lolis, but do you know what loli means? Click here and read our article on loli, lolicon and lolita.
Table of Contents
Big Brother - What does Onii-chan mean?
Onii-chan is simply an informal way of saying older brother in Japanese. The ideogram Onii [お兄] literally means older brother. The chan is a childlike, informal, and intimate honorific, akin to a diminutive (little brother).
The most formal and common is to use the suffix san, so we also hear the words onii-san for older brother. You can use these expressions after the person's name as an honorific (Kevin-oniichan).
This treatment is used for any older brother you have, sometimes it is even used for people you consider a brother, even without any kinship.
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Oniichan or Onii-chan, which one is right?
There isn't a correct way; this dash is just a romanization option we use to separate the words "brother" from the suffix "chan" or another suffix like "san." Be careful not to write just "onichan" because then you will be referring to the demon, ogre, or monster "Oni" [鬼].
Big Sister - What does Onee-chan mean?
Onee-san is the informal way of saying big sister in Japanese. The character "Onee" [お姉] literally means older sister. As we've already mentioned, the suffix "chan" is an informal diminutive (little sister).
Onee-san is the more formal way of saying big sister. Because women are highly respected, men generally tend to use onee-san more than onee-chan depending on the family situation.
What does Anne mean?
"Ane" [姉] is another way of referring to an older sister, especially when talking about your own sister to others. Another even more formal and archaic way is "aneue" [姉上].
Different ways to say older brother in Japanese
In Japanese there is a hierarchy of treatment, a formal, common and informal language. This is one of the main reasons there are so many variations and ways of saying big brother in Japanese. To make it easier we will put a list of words below exemplifying the idea a little:
that all the words in the list below refer to older sisters or brothers:
| Description | Older brother | big sister |
| Keigo - Too formal - Sovereign | onii-sama [お兄さま] | onee-sama [お姉さま] |
| Sonkeigo (brothers from above) | aniue [兄上] | aneue [姉上] |
| Formal - Everyday - Common | onii-san [お兄さん] | onee-san [お姉さん] |
| a little more informal | nii-san [兄さん] | nee-san [姉さん] |
| Without any respectful suffixes, informal | nii [兄] | nee [姉] |
| Informal suffix and diminutive | onii-chan [お兄ちゃん] | onee-chan [お姉ちゃん] |
| Totally informal with diminutive suffix | nii-chan [兄ちゃん] | nee-chan [姉ちゃん] |
| Alternative to nii and nee | ani [兄] | ane [姉] |
| Precious, esteemed, honorable | Aniki [兄貴] | aneki [姉貴] |
Aniki it is commonly used by the yakuza, it's like a comrade brother, where the ideogram [貴] refers to something precious, esteemed, and valuable.
Imouto and Otouto - Younger sister and brother
To refer to the younger brothers, we use the word otouto [弟]. The younger sisters are called imouto [妹].
These words don't usually use suffix, except when referring to of another family, like your friend's younger sister, you should use imouto-san.
Unlike the onii-san and onee-san, you don't use "imouto" and "otouto" as often to talk to your younger siblings. Japanese people usually call younger people by name.
If you search for “younger sister” in the Japanese dictionary, you will see that there are endless ways to convey the idea of a younger but unusual sister.
Do you happen to like younger sisters? I hope you're no lolicon if I don't kill you! The little sisters are all mine!
Different ways to say brothers in Japanese
We have already learned the main ways of referring to younger and older siblings. Now let's see other Japanese words used to refer to brothers in Japanese:
| Japanese | Kana | Romaji | Portuguese |
| 兄弟 | きょうだい | siblings | Brothers Sisters |
| 姉妹 | しまい | sisters | Sisters |
| 兄 | あに | ani | Older brother |
| 姉 | sister | older sister | Older sister |
| 弟 | おとうと | otouto | Younger brother |
| 妹 | younger sister | little sister | Younger sister |
| 双子 | ふたご | twin | twins |
| 義弟 | ぎてい | I shook | younger half brother |
| 義妹 | ぎまい | gimai | younger half sister |
Futago - When are twins?
If they are both twin brothers, how do they call each other? Who will decide who is the younger or older brother? The Japanese word for twins is futago [双子], which literally means children in a pair or set.
In reality, everyone is already aware that even twins, even when born at the same time, are taken in an order, so those who first came out of the mother’s belly are considered older. So, it can be said:
- futago no ani [双子の兄] twin brother;
- futago no ane [双子の姉] twin sister;
- futago no oniisan [双子のお兄さん] older twin brother;
- futago no oneesan [双子のお姉さん] older twin sister;
- futago no otouto [双子の弟] younger twin brother;
- futago no imouto [双子の妹] younger twin sister;
- tsuin [ツイン] from English twins;
! Never learn Japanese by studying isolated words. If you are confused about the correct order or method to study the Japanese language, we recommend reading our: Study Guide for Learning Japanese.
Kyoudai and Shimai - Other ways to talk about siblings
If we want to speak in the plural, brothers and sisters, we can use the combination of the ideograms of older brother and younger brother. Brothers in Japanese are spelled "kyoudai" [兄弟] and sisters in Japanese are spelled "shimai" [姉妹].
Kyoudai can encom all siblings, even females, although you can rarely find Kyoudai written in other ways using 2 of the 4 characters used for siblings [兄-弟-姉-妹].
I hope this article has cleared up any doubts you may have had about the "onii-chan," "onee-chan," "onii-san," and "onee-san," as well as others related to siblings in Japanese such as "imouto," "otouto," "kyoudai," and "shimai"! Thank you for your comments and for sharing this information!
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