Should I use keigo in this situation:


I work in an American subsidiary of a Japanese company. I met a few Japanese
colleagues while working at the home office on an exchange. Do I need to use
Keigo for:

Colleague A: 1 year younger in age than me and joined the company at a later
time. It seems like I could use the desu/masu form without Keigo, but since we
belong to different departments, different branches, etc., I'm not sure
whether he is in-group or out-group.

Colleague B: Not 100% certain about age and seniority, but probably the same
age and seniority as me or my junior.

Colleague C: 6 years younger than me and much less seniority. Should I use
plain forms to talk down to him? I decided not to since I wasn't sure whether
we were all in-group or considered out-group.




I think in general you are safe using plain form with people in your group who
are younger than you and in lower position (usually the same at a Japanese
company though).

the tricky part is someone who is younger than you in a different dpt. I would
just use Teine-go which is what desu/masu can be referred to.

In general, you don't need to use keigo in your office while talking to people
unless there is a huge gap in level. Like talking to a dept manager/CEO or
what not.

