Excepting Japanese exchange student

Hi,
I am expecting a Japanese exchange student (12 years old). What should the student call me? Is there any cultural sensitivity for the student to call me oto or papa or dad and my wife oka or mama or mum?

This is because, in my culture, as a host family, it is fine for a child to call us dad and mom. I�fm not sure for Japanese culture. Thanks for helping.

Your exchange student is coming to learn about your culture and to teach you about her/his culture. It will also depend on her/his age.

Even in Japan, kids wouldn't call their parents "oto" or "oka." It'd be "oto-san" and "oka-san," or maybe "oto-chan" and "oka-chan" if the family is more affectionate in terms of address. But dropping the honorific/name suffixs altogether is something Japanese people don't do when talking to their parents.

Usually, when young kids are talking about/to adults, the most common forms of address would be "oni-san"/"one-san" ("big brother"/"big sister") for young adults, and oji-san/oba-san (uncle/aunt) for older adults.

But like LikeBike said, if a Japanese child is going overseas to do homestay, the best thing to do is to treat them like you would a child from your own culture, since that sort of cultural immersion is the whole point of homestay. Personally, since I'm originally from the U.S., I'd probably have the kid call me "Mr. (my last name)" or just bby my first name, since in the U.S. I think it'd be unusual, and perhaps even embarrassingly childish, for a kid who's already 12 years old to call adults other than his biological parents "mom" and "dad," but things may be different where you're from.

As a 12 y/o, probably calling you their first name or Mr or Mrs/Ms NAME. Calling you mom/dad will probably feel a bit weird - but I might be wrong. It also depends how long they stay with you - for example if they stay with you for a year them they may end up calling you mom/dad, but this will take time.

Sorry that I found typo in my title and messages.

Thanks for the reply.