Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Junior member of a group in Japanese arts; mentor.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Japanese 後輩 (こうはい, kōhai).

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Examples

  • Most of the dojo scenes are like that, depicting 20th century martial arts ettiquette but, very oddly, glossing over the sempai-kohai seniority structure.

    井の中の蛙 » Young Samurai Book One (of at least three): Harry Potter Bushido » Print 2009

  • Most of the dojo scenes are like that, depicting 20th century martial arts ettiquette but, very oddly, glossing over the sempai-kohai seniority structure.

    Young Samurai Book One (of at least three): Harry Potter Bushido 2009

  • He is the sempai (guide) to Snipes's kohai (the younger protege), and our instructor in the mysteries of the East.

    Cross-Cultural Crime Story 2008

  • Sort of like a Japanese college acquaintance of mine who would use the English pronoun 'you' when talking to me in Japanese, because none of the implications of omae, kimi, anata, otaku, onore, kisama, etc., were quite appropriate to kohai-senpai relationship.

    languagehat.com: MALAY PRONOUNS. 2005

  • In the Japanese educational system, we can find some cultural precedent, as senior peers (sempai) are expected to tutor and mentor (and enjoy deference from) their juniors (kohai.)

    Ragnarok Musings 2004

  • It seems to me that he's gone too far to look after his kohai

    AMPONTAN ampontan 2010

  • Eventually Hiroshi gets caught but is saved when Issei's kohai - Ichigaki Masami - shows up.

    Anime Nano! 2010

  • Getting into anime means having your horizons broadened, learning about strange and new concepts like senpai and kohai (senior / junior in a school or organization), something that doesn't exist in English.

    J-List side blog 2009

  • Getting into anime means having your horizons broadened, learning about strange and new concepts like senpai and kohai (senior / junior in a school or organization), something that doesn't exist in English.

    J-List side blog 2009

  • After Kanako failed her finals, she and her classmates (plus one athletic senpai and two twin-tailed kohai) help her research the town's history for a make-up paper.

    Anime Nano! 2009

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