Kazoku - Family Members in Japanese

Curious how to name every relative in Japanese? Kazoku [家族] is the everyday word for family — and the real puzzle is not only the list of words, but which list you pick in conversation.

Japanese splits family talk into two tracks: plainer forms when you talk about your own relatives to outsiders, and more respectful forms when you address family or refer to someone else's. There are also age and gender splits that English collapses into a single "brother" or "sister".

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Your family members in Japanese

The table below is the plain set learners meet first: how you typically refer to your own relatives when speaking with people outside the household. Keep kanji, kana, and rōmaji together while you practice the sound of each word.

Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Meaning
家族	かぞく	kazoku	Family / family members
祖父	そふ	sofu	Grandfather
祖母	そぼ	sobo	Grandmother
伯父	おじ	oji	Uncle (older than parent)
叔父	おじ	oji	Uncle (younger than parent)
伯母	おば	oba	Aunt (older than parent)
叔母	おば	oba	Aunt (younger than parent)
両親	りょうしん	ryōshin	Parents
父	ちち	chichi	Father
母	はは	haha	Mother
兄弟	きょうだい	kyōdai	Siblings / brothers
姉妹	しまい	shimai	Sisters
兄	あに	ani	Older brother
姉	あね	ane	Older sister
弟	おとうと	otōto	Younger brother
妹	いもうと	imōto	Younger sister
夫婦	ふうふ	fūfu	Married couple
主人	しゅじん	shujin	Husband
夫	おっと	otto	Husband
家内	かない	kanai	Wife
妻	つま	tsuma	Wife
従兄弟	いとこ	itoko	Cousin (male)
従姉妹	いとこ	itoko	Cousin (female)
子供	こども	kodomo	Children
息子	むすこ	musuko	Son
娘	むすめ	musume	Daughter
甥	おい	oi	Nephew
姪	めい	mei	Niece
孫	まご	mago	Grandchild
義理の兄	ぎりのあに	giri no ani	Brother-in-law (older)
義理の弟	ぎりのおとうと	giri no otōto	Brother-in-law (younger)
義理の息子	ぎりのむすこ	giri no musuko	Son-in-law
義理の~	ぎりの~	giri no ~	~ without blood relation

English often settles for "brother" and "sister". Japanese builds age into the word itself: older brother, younger brother, older sister, and younger sister each have their own term. For the nicknames and -chan / -san nuance around siblings, see the meanings of onii-chan, onee-chan, onii-san, and onee-san.

How the two lists actually work

A common mix-up is to treat the polite list as "only for other people's families" and the plain list as "only for yours". In practice the split is more like this:

• When you describe your own parents to a teacher or friend, prefer chichi and haha (and the other plain forms).
• When you call out to your dad or mom at home, many people say otōsan and okāsan — not the plain forms.
• When you talk about someone else's relatives, use the polite set: otōsan, okāsan, oniisan, and so on.

Watch vowel length carefully: ojisan (uncle) versus ojīsan (grandfather), and obasan (aunt) versus obāsan (grandmother). One extra beat changes who you mean.

Members of other families — respectful forms

It is not wrong to use the polite forms with your own family. On the contrary, calling your parents okāsan and otōsan is often more natural at home than haha and chichi. The list below is the respectful track: for other people's relatives, and for polite address.

Compared with the first table, these forms carry more social distance and respect. The first list is plainer when you talk about your own in-group to outsiders.

Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Meaning
ご家族	ごかぞく	go-kazoku	Someone's family
お爺さん	おじいさん	ojīsan	Grandfather / elderly man
お婆さん	おばあさん	obāsan	Grandmother / elderly woman
伯父さん	おじさん	ojisan	Uncle (older than parent)
叔父さん	おじさん	ojisan	Uncle (younger than parent)
伯母さん	おばさん	obasan	Aunt (older than parent)
叔母さん	おばさん	obasan	Aunt (younger than parent)
ご両親	ごりょうしん	go-ryōshin	Parents (someone else's)
お父さん	おとうさん	otōsan	Father
お母さん	おかあさん	okāsan	Mother
ご兄弟	ごきょうだい	go-kyōdai	Siblings
お兄さん	おにいさん	oniisan	Older brother
お姉さん	おねえさん	oneesan	Older sister
弟さん	おとうとさん	otōtosan	Younger brother
妹さん	いもうとさん	imōtosan	Younger sister
ご夫婦	ごふうふ	go-fūfu	Married couple
ご主人	ごしゅじん	go-shujin	Husband
奥さん	おくさん	okusan	Wife
お子さん	おこさん	okosan	Child / children
息子さん	むすこさん	musukosan	Son
お嬢さん	おじょうさん	ojōsan	Daughter
お孫さん	おまごさん	omago-san	Grandchild

Cousins and more distant relatives

Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Meaning
祖父母	そふぼ	sofubo	Grandparents
親子	おやこ	oyako	Parent and child
赤ちゃん	あかちゃん	akachan	Baby
曾祖父	そうそふ	sōsofu	Great-grandfather
曾祖母	そうそぼ	sōsobo	Great-grandmother
従兄弟	いとこ	itoko	Cousins
従姉妹	いとこ	itoko	Female cousins
従兄	いとこ	itoko	Older male cousin
従姉	いとこ	itoko	Older female cousin
従弟	いとこ	itoko	Younger male cousin
従妹	いとこ	itoko	Younger female cousin

In speech, people usually just say itoko. The different kanji mark older or younger, male or female on the page — the same idea as sibling pairs in Japanese.

Relatives by marriage

Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Meaning
義父	ぎふ	gifu	Father-in-law
義母	ぎぼ	gibo	Mother-in-law
嫁	よめ	yome	Daughter-in-law
婿	むこ	muko	Son-in-law
義兄	ぎけい	gikei	Older brother-in-law
義弟	ぎてい	gitei	Younger brother-in-law
義姉	ぎし	gishi	Older sister-in-law
義妹	ぎまい	gimai	Younger sister-in-law

You will also meet the pattern giri no ~ (義理の~) for in-laws in general, such as giri no haha for mother-in-law in some contexts. Start with the compact forms above, then add giri no when you need a flexible phrase.

If you want a clearer grip on how these readings sound out loud, pair this list with a short guide to Japanese pronunciation and speech changes. The words stick faster once you can hear the long vowels that separate ojisan from ojīsan.