Sensei

Sensei (先生) is a polite Japanese name suffix used to address:

• a teacher, regardless of relation to the speaker,
• someone strong enough to be a teacher and/or
• an older player.

Examples

• In Hikaru no Go, an older player comes into the club to find 11-year old Akira Toya, a kid aspiring to become a professional go player. The man asks if Akira Sensei is present. Mr. Kitajima, a player at a go salon, tells Harumi Ichikawa to call Akira "Sensei". Akira later states that he would feel awkward if Ms. Ichikawa called him "Sensei".

• Professional 9 dan Yoda Norimoto might address deceased professional 9 dan Sakata Eio as "Sensei," even if Yoda is or becomes stronger or older than Sakata was.

• Imaginary amateur player Dan studies Honinbo Shuei's games. After learning many things he begins to address Shuei as one of his go teachers, or senseis.

Note on Chinese

In the Chinese language, 先生 (xiān sheng) is most commonly used to mean "Mister", i.e., 李先生 simply means Mr. Li. However, but more rarely, 先生 can also take on any of the Japanese meanings listed above.

Typical Chinese terms for "teacher" include 老师 and 教师.

See Also

• AI Sensei — a website whose users may upload their games, analyse them with AI and then practise the correct moves where they made mistakes
• Dragon Sensei — human teachers at the Dragon Go Server
• Teacher — links to sites offering teaching
• What It Means to Be a Sensei — reflections by scartol on their wish that stronger players help weaker players more