Senpai
先輩
An older colleague in a dojo, school or company who started earlier. Toward the younger kohai he has a duty to help and advise, and they show him respect.
Quick Facts
Word breakdown
Definition
Senpai (先輩) means “senior colleague”: 先 is earlier, 輩 is fellow, colleague. The senpai–kohai relationship is an informal hierarchy that works in Japan in schools, sports clubs, companies and the dojo. Who is the senpai is decided by who joined the group first, not by age. The relationship has roots in Confucianism, in the traditional Japanese family and in the civil code of 1898. The senpai gives younger members help, friendship and advice, and the kohai shows gratitude and respect in return and addresses him in polite speech. In Japanese school clubs this also shows in newcomers carrying equipment and cleaning up. In the dojo of Japanese martial arts, the senpai–kohai relationship is maintained outside Japan too. In the West, however, practitioners often understand it differently than in Japanese society.