My brother has exceeded me!

My brother has exceeded me in all.

When he got a position to an associate professor of a national university, I decided to promote him from my “younger” brother to my “older” brother. I conferred him the title “Ani” and started to call him “Nii-san”. Both mean “an older brother” in Japanese.

Japanese lauguage has abundant vocabulary. If the abundant vocabulary violates my secret, can I tell a lie to protect my personal information?

Japanese has independent words for older brother, younger brother, older sister and younger sister. In other words, when we mention our sibling, we show up the gender and older / younger. Such abundance of Japanese badly violates my personal information, as the age, my top secret, is revealed. When I say “Ototo (=my younger brother), listens get to know I am older than him. Actually, my brother’s age is opened in his books and on his university’s Web site.

That is why I call him “Nii-san (=my older brother)”.

I hesitate to tell a lie but really hope to protect my secret. Can I tell a lie in such cases? As Japanese is not only language with such abundant vocabulary, we have to seriously consider this theme.

My brother did not hesitate to be called “Nii-san” by me at all.

“Because my mother said imagine she is not your older sister, but younger sister. Imagine that you are Nii-san but Ototo”