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In Shadowrun the runners call their client usually by an English name, "Mr. Johnson." With how imperialistic Japan became after the awakening I am not sure if they would follow suit, or instead use a more Japanese name to represent the client.

Is there any info on what a client is called in Japan by the runners in any official sources (Shadowrun gamebooks or novels)?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Worth noting... 'Mr. Johnson' is not a name runners came up with. That's what the client calls himself. The Corps came up with that naming scheme, not the runners. 5e Core, p28: "We call this person Mr. Johnson, because that's what he calls himself." If your Johnson wants to call himself something else, he is free to. They just tend to all use the same name to make anonymity even easier. \$\endgroup\$
    – guildsbounty
    Commented Apr 5, 2017 at 17:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @guildsbounty upvoted your comment as I think it even started with people calling themselves johnson and then the runners just calling client johnson when talking with each other ... as that is the only name they will get (normally) anyways. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas E.
    Commented Apr 5, 2017 at 18:37

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Tanaka-san or Johnson-san.

There is a vast list of names for "client" used all over the world of Shadowrun.

While in North America "Mr." or "Mrs. Johnson" is the common name, other names are used in other parts of the Sixth World, such as:

  • Herr/Frau Schmidt - in Germany - i.e. the Allied German States

  • Herr Keller - in Switzerland

  • Herr or Doktor Nowak - in Austria

  • Mr. Smith or Mr. Jones - in Great Brittain

  • Mr. Tanaka - in Japan

  • Mr. Wu - in China (including Hong Kong)

  • Mr. Kim - in Korea

  • Mr. Khan - in Pakistan and Afghanistan

  • Monsieur Dupont - in France (outdated - in the 2070ies French Johnsons use various pseudonyms like Martin, Leblanc, Beaumont, Sinclair or Noël)

  • Pan Jonáa - in Czech Republic

  • (Herr) Kowalski - in Poland

  • Meneer Janssen - in the United Netherlands (VNL)

  • Señor Fernández - in Spain

  • Gospodin Nikogo, in Russia

  • A special case are the Johnsons of the German Saeder-Krupp Corporation, because they call themselves "Herr Brackhaus". - Sometimes this may even be Lofwyr himself in metahuman form...

Tanaka-san (English, Mr. Tanaka) is the official name used in the setting, as seen on Shadowrun 5E Core Rulebook (page 28):

Sure, in Japan he sometimes calls himself Mr. Tanaka, in the Allied German States he's Herr Schmidt, and in Hong Kong he might go by the name Mr. Wu

Johnson-san or John-san has been used unofficially by the community for Japanese "clients". But I don't recall it being used on any official sourcebook.

The German wiki also uses Meisho-san, which translate to something like "Mr. Famous" or "Mr. Important".

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 1:36

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