In Japanese companies, titles such as kacho, bucho, and shacho indicate where someone stands in the organization. If you compare just these three positions, a bucho ranks above a kacho, while the shacho is the head of the company.
A kacho (課長) is the person in charge of a ka, or section. A bucho (部長) is in charge of a larger unit called a bu, or department. Company structures vary, but a department often contains several sections, so a bucho is generally above a kacho. Shacho (社長) is the everyday title used for the person at the top of the company. However, shacho is a corporate title and does not necessarily mean exactly the same thing as the legal position of representative director.
What matters is that the same title can carry very different levels of authority depending on the company. A kacho in a company with only twenty employees may work closely with the owner or senior management and make decisions across a wide range of areas. In a corporation with thousands of employees, a kacho may be responsible for a much narrower part of the business. The title alone does not tell you exactly how much a person can decide.
For that reason, it can be misleading to memorize kacho as “manager,” bucho as “director,” and shacho as “CEO” as if they were exact equivalents. English translations differ from company to company. It is often more useful to look at which part of the organization the person is responsible for, who they report to, and what kinds of decisions they are allowed to make.
These titles are also used when addressing people. Someone may be called Tanaka-kacho, or simply Bucho without their family name. In everyday office conversation, the title can therefore show not only what job a person has, but also where they sit in the company hierarchy.
A foreign employee does not need to use these forms perfectly from the first day. If someone initially says “Tanaka-san,” most people are unlikely to make much of it. As the employee notices how colleagues address that person, it is natural to follow the style used in that workplace.
A higher title does not automatically mean that the person is harder to approach, either. In some companies, employees speak quite casually with senior managers or even the president. In others, the atmosphere is much more formal. Personal distance depends heavily on company culture and on the individual.
A title such as kacho, bucho, or shacho tells you first of all where someone sits in the organization. To understand their actual authority or how formal the relationship will be, you still need to look at how that particular company works.
