Kanji for Teacher — 先生

Teacher in Japanese is 先生 (sensei), a two-character word rather than a single kanji: 先 (sen, before, ahead) plus 生 (sei, life, birth). Literally, one who was born before you — the respect is built into the etymology.

先生 stretches well past the classroom. Doctors are sensei, as are lawyers, politicians, novelists and manga artists — anyone whose expertise you defer to. It is also a title in its own right: you address your teacher as 先生, never by name plus -san, and you never use it about yourself.

The related word 教師 (kyōshi) is the occupational term — what you write on a form under “profession” — while 先生 is what you actually call the person. In martial arts you may also meet 先輩 (senpai), a senior fellow student, which shares the same 先.