Now Sensei is a well known Japanese word.
You may have been familiar with the word in an anime, video games, movies, or dramas.
Sensei or 先生
Followings are how I (don’t) use sensei.
What is sensei?
Sensei is a person who teaches or shows how to do something.
Sensei is not used for kids, but if he or she has extraordinary skill or knowledge, the kid can be a sensei (you may have seen such a situation in a manga or an anime story).
If someone has profound knowledge or extraordinary skills, the man or woman is often called sensei, even though they never teach. (see below)
I use sensei for…
・a teacher
in school including college, (junior) high school, elementary school, and kindergarten. A home tutor is also called sensei.
・a master
of marthal arts such as karate, judo, kendou, and kyuudou.
of playing instruments, shougi, and go.
of cultural activities such as flower arrangement (ikebana), tea ceremony, and caligraphy.
shougi(将棋)
・a person who is…
a doctor, a writer, a lawyer and a lawmaker.
Even someone you have never seen can be a sensei.
Examples: “Hemingway is my sensei in writing.” “I regard Jimi Hendrix as my sensei of playing guitar.”
I do not use sensei for…
・a coach of western sports
such as baseball, basketball, hokky, rugby, (American) football, badminton, tennis, and so on.
In this case, using sensei is NOT wrong. Sometimes we do use the word, because he or she does show us how to play sports. But coach (コーチ kōchi) sounds normal for me.
