後輩kohai
Quick definition:Kohai is a Japanese word for a junior member of a school, club or workplace, someone who joined later than a senpai and who is expected to learn from and respect them.
Meaning
Kohai means a junior or underclassman, and it is the counterpart of senpai. The word is used for a person who joined a school, club or company after the speaker and who has less experience. A kohai typically looks to a senpai for advice, and in return is expected to show politeness and a willingness to learn.
In anime and manga the kohai is a common figure. A first-year student in a club may admire an older member, a new office worker may be paired with a patient colleague, or an energetic junior may keep pestering a more reserved senior. The relationship can be warm, funny or competitive, and it often drives the early chapters of a school story.
Kohai is used as a label for someone, not normally as a form of address. Japanese speakers tend to call a junior by name, while senpai is the word more often said aloud, which is why fans hear it far more often in anime than kohai.
Origin:Kohai is written with characters meaning after and fellow, and it describes someone who comes later in a group. The word has long been part of Japanese school and work life, and it entered English-language fandom through anime and manga alongside senpai, with which it is almost always paired.
Example:In a school baseball club, a new first-year manager joins in April, learns how to prepare the equipment and takes advice from older players. Each of the seniors is her senpai, and she is their kohai. Sports anime often use this setup to show a team slowly accepting a newcomer.
Did you know?Anime sometimes reverses the usual order for comedy or drama, showing a kohai who is more talented than the senpai they are supposed to follow. The tension between rank and ability gives these characters a built-in conflict.
