Hello! Say I am an English speaking person (we'll call me John Smith) and I go to Japan. When I get to Japan and my scheduled transport arrives, let's say the driver greets me by saying "Hello, Mr. John Smith", except he says it in Japanese.
Now, first of all, since he is technically "working" for me, by being a driver, he would use "sama" instead of "san", right?
Second, would he use my first name, last name, or both?
John Smith-sama/san
John-sama/san
Smith-sama/san
From what I've learned, Japanese people generally refer to foreigners by their first name. Or am I off base there? This is for a literature piece I'm writing, and I just think that John-sama/san sounds weird, but I don't want to be inaccurate by using Smith instead.
Thanks for any help!
Now, first of all, since he is technically "working" for me, by being a driver, he would use "sama" instead of "san", right?
Second, would he use my first name, last name, or both?
John Smith-sama/san
John-sama/san
Smith-sama/san
From what I've learned, Japanese people generally refer to foreigners by their first name. Or am I off base there? This is for a literature piece I'm writing, and I just think that John-sama/san sounds weird, but I don't want to be inaccurate by using Smith instead.
Thanks for any help!