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In _Erased_ , when Satoru got transported back to 1988, he mistakenly referred
to his mother as "kaasan". However, when pointed out, he quickly switches to
"okaasan". Why is that?

As far as I know people usually refer to their own mother as "kaasan", and not
"okaasan" as Satoru did.


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question
japanese-language erased
In Erased, why does Satoru refers to his mother as "okaasan"?


I suppose you're referring to the following exchange (from
[here](http://blog.livedoor.jp/kaigai_no/archives/47531380.html)).

> 悟 ：あっ・・・母さん・・・(Ma・・・)
>
> 佐知：母さん？("Ma"？)
>
> 悟 ：えっ？お・・・お母さんって言ったでしょ？(I said "Mom.")

In Japanese, a large majority of kids call their mother either _okaasan_ or
_mama_ , depending simply on the custom of each family (and switch very
rarely). A kid ( <12 years old, say) saying _kaasan_ is relatively rare, that
is why it sounded weird to the mother.

So Satoru apparently switched from _okaasan_ to _kaasan_ at some point when he
grew older. He first used _kaasan_ due to his 'current' (i.e., as a grown-up)
habit, but it sounds unusual to the mother, then he 'corrected' it to
_okaasan_ , which should have been the way he called his mother.

* * *

If I remember correctly, Conan (or Shinichi) the detective called his mother
_kaasan_ , but he is 15 or 16 years old. As people grow older, use of _kaasan_
becomes more common, while it is by no means strange that a 50-year-old man
calls to his mother by _okaasan_.


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