kohai

• kōhai

Borrowed from Japanese 後(こう)輩(はい) (kōhai, literally “later cohort”). Doublet of hoobae.

kohai (plural kohais or kohai)

1. A junior member of a group in Japanese arts; mentee.
   • 1974, Thomas P. Rohlen, For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in Anthropological Perspective, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 125:

     Juniors may forget their obligation to be in turn good seniors. Seniors may demand too much of their juniors. Some kohai are ungrateful. The system of interrelationship, however, continues to follow the form set by the ideal of unselfish sympathy and involvement.

   • 2015, Koichi Togashi, Amanda Kottler, Kohut’s Twinship Across Cultures: The Psychology of Being Human, Routledge, →ISBN, page 32:

     Whereas kohai are often expected to obey their sempai at some cost to their personal welfare, sempai assume a corresponding obligation.

2. (anime and manga, fandom slang) An underclassman or younger student.
   • 1989, Intersect, PHP Institute, page 7:

     The students always sit in order of seniority, both in and out of the training hall, and the kohai are always at the beck and call of the senpai.

• senpai