有段者 yūdansha Black Belt

有段者 is what a person becomes on the day of the first black belt. In jūdō and karate the belt is the sign, and the word names the rank itself. A go or shōgi player with a dan has as much right to the word as anyone on the mat. Whether it is for your own promotion or for someone who has just earned theirs is yours.

有段者 is composed of the kanji 有 (read yū) meaning "have; possess", 段 (read dan) meaning "dan (black belt) rank", and 者 (read sha) meaning "person".

有段者 is a Meiji word for one who holds a dan, a grade the go houses set in the late seventeenth century; a jūjutsu school's pupils are called by it in print in 1888 and the Kōdōkan's members by 1894, and English met it in 1913, when a Kōdōkan teacher told a visiting journalist that the yūdansha are the ones allowed to wear the black belt.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 有段者.

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