Japanese culture
What does Senpai mean?
The one who arrived earlier at school, in the club, at work: senior in the path, by date of entry.
Definition
A senpai is the one who arrived earlier at school, in the club, at work: senior in the path, by date of entry into the group. In everyday Japanese it is still school, club and company etiquette. Using senpai in English is already an anime citation as much as sociology. Boyfriend is another contract.
The kōhai / kouhai (後輩) is the one who arrived later. A teacher is sensei, another title, the one who teaches. The West glued on the notice me senpai meme — an anime club crush.
Origin
Senpai is Japanese 先輩: 先 (sen), before, plus 輩 (pai), comrade. The pair is 後輩, the same 輩 with 後, “after.” The same Chinese characters give Korean seonbae / hubae and Chinese xianbei / houbei. The senpai–kōhai tie pulls seniority from date of entry into the group, with a Confucian root of respect for whoever came first — in Japan it became its own school-and-firm style. Sempai is an older romanisation; senpai is the usual form.
History
From the school club and the dojo the title moved into high-school manga. On 8 August 2012 the Tumblr Has Senpai Noticed Me Yet? fired the tag I hope senpai will notice me; within days blogs in the senpai’s voice appeared. Sensei (先生) stayed the other vocative, the one who teaches, not the class veteran.
How it emerged
The West needed a vocative for the club crush and took the veteran title. In Japan the pair already existed to teach the kata and the honorific. The meme froze only the plea to be looked at.
Usage examples
In the club, the senpai teaches the kata and sometimes ignores the kouhai.
I called the third-year senpai, not the crush on the feed.
Translations
- pt senpai / veterano
- en senpai
- es senpai / veterano
Synonyms
- 先輩
- kouhai
- veteran
- sempai