SumiWhat senpai literally means (先輩)
Senpai (先輩) is your senior: someone who joined your school, club or company before you did. Its kanji are 先, ahead, and 輩, fellow or companion, so a senpai is the companion one step ahead of you. The one a step behind is your kouhai (後輩).
What the kanji say
先 (sen, or saki) means ahead, before or first. It began as a foot (止) above a person (儿): one step in front. You’ll see it in 先生 (sensei), teacher, and 先週 (senshuu), last week.
輩 (hai) means fellows: people of the same group, rank or generation. Its lower half, 車, is a cart or chariot, and 非 on top gives the sound. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, defines it like this: when an army sends out its chariots, a hundred of them make one 輩. From a company of chariots, the word moved to a company of people.
後 (kou, or ato, ushiro) means behind or after. Its oldest form showed a foot tied with a thread, held back so it lags behind.
Put them together and you get a whole line-up: 先輩, the fellow in front; 後輩 (kouhai), the fellow behind; and 同輩 (douhai), the fellow beside you, your equal.
What senpai means in Japan
Senpai is about who arrived first. A student in the year above you is your senpai. At work, a colleague who joined a year before you is your senpai, even if you’re the same age. Someone who started in the same year is your 同期 (douki).
The relationship runs both ways. Kouhai speak politely to their senpai and help out; senpai look after their kouhai, show them the ropes and often treat them to a meal.
At school and in clubs, 先輩 works as a title: 田中先輩 (Tanaka-senpai), or just 先輩 on its own. In many offices people use さん (san) instead, even for their seniors.
In English, senpai is widely known from anime and manga, often as the older student someone has a crush on. In Japanese there’s nothing romantic about it: your senpai might be a 60-year-old accountant.
How to use it
田中先輩、おはようございます。
Tanaka-senpai, ohayou gozaimasu.
Good morning, Tanaka-senpai.
彼は大学の二つ上の先輩です。
Kare wa daigaku no futatsu ue no senpai desu.
He was two years above me at university.
先輩にご飯をおごってもらった。
Senpai ni gohan o ogotte moratta.
My senpai treated me to a meal.
新しい後輩が三人入ってきた。
Atarashii kouhai ga sannin haitte kita.
Three new juniors have joined.
- Speak politely to a senpai, with です and ます, unless they tell you to relax.
- The relationship tends to stick. Someone who was your senpai at school usually stays your senpai years later.
- 後輩 isn’t a title. Nobody says 田中後輩; juniors are just 田中さん (Tanaka-san) or 田中くん (Tanaka-kun).
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 先生 | sensei | teacher |
| 先週 | senshuu | last week |
| 後輩 | kouhai | junior |
| 同輩 | douhai | peer, equal |
| 午後 | gogo | afternoon |
| 後ろ | ushiro | back, behind |
Remember it
Picture a column of chariots (輩) heading out. The one in front (先) is your senpai. The one behind (後), eating its dust, is the kouhai.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.
先before, ahead, previous
- On
- セン sen
- Kun
- さき saki · ま(ず) ma(zu)
- Strokes
- 6
- Level
- JLPT N5
Common word 先生 せんせい sensei, teacher; instructor
輩comrade, fellow, people
- On
- ハイ hai
- Kun
- やから yakara · やかい yakai · ともがら tomogara
- Strokes
- 15
- Level
- JLPT N1
Common word 先輩 せんぱい senpai, senior (at school, work, etc.); superior
後behind, back, later
- On
- ゴ go · コウ kou
- Kun
- のち nochi · うし(ろ) ushi(ro) · うしろ ushiro
- Strokes
- 9
- Level
- JLPT N5
Common word 後ろ うしろ ushiro, back; behind