# What is this Japanese gesture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128 "2007-09-22T20:04:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/1 "2007-09-22T20:04:37Z")
AT about 9 minutes and 20 seconds they flash what looks like a peace symbol. Maybe it is the peace gesture. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSxqAW2P_74) ---
**Author:** ![MyglassISfull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbce88/32.png) [@MyglassISfull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyglassISfull)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/2 "2007-09-22T23:06:57Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] AT about 9 minutes and 20 seconds they flash what looks like a peace symbol. Maybe it is the peace gesture. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GSxqAW2P_74/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/GSxqAW2P_74?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque [/QUOTE] I never quite ‘got’ this sign. The chinese use it a lot, often (if not only) when they’re having their picture taken, although it’s usually the younger (and often female) kids doing it. There’s a cultural reason there, just as when westerners smile automatically. I think that sums it up quite nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/3 "2007-09-22T23:24:54Z")
I was thinking at first that it was the standard “we’re on camera!” pose that almost everyone here does, but in the video it’s done by an office worker to a visitor as he’s leaving. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used that way, and I’ve never finished a business meeting with it. ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/4 "2007-09-22T23:33:36Z")
I lived in Japan for two years and most Japanese people will give the peace symbol in every photo. But in this scene it is really weird. I thought it may have been something else. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/5 "2007-09-23T00:05:30Z")
A long time ago, I had a book on Japanese gestures from anime and comics, the gesture means, depending on the context: I’m here!, I finished! or Peace to you! This cite from an Anime group agrees: [http://carleton.ottawa-anime.org/animefaq.html](http://carleton.ottawa-anime.org/animefaq.html) > [@](#): > > Is that the “peace” sign? > You’ll often see anime characters flashing the “peace” or “V for victory” sign with their first two fingers -but that’s really not what they’re doing. That gesture is one of accomplishment, more “I made it!” or “I did it!” than “victory.” Often this gesture is used when posing for photographs. As for how it turned in Japan from a victory symbol to the less used meaning of peace (it is indeed a peace symbol too, but less used like that nowadays in the USA) Wikipedia reports this item that needs confirmation: > **[V sign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign)** > > The V sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When displayed with the palm inward toward the signer, it can be an offensive gesture in some Commonwealth nations (similar to showing the middle finger), dating back to at least 1900. When given with the palm outward, it is to be read as a victory sign ("V for Victory"); t... > [@](#): > > During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period—but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed only 3rd in the actual competition, her cheerful diligence and indefatigability resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs.[citation needed] > > Through the 1970s and 1980s in Japan, the V sign was often accompanied by a vocalization: “piisu!” This gairaigo exclamation, which stood for “peace”, has since fallen into disuse, though the V sign itself remains steadfastly popular. It is especially popular in photography, as it is a favorite pose of both teens and adults. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/6 "2007-09-23T00:16:02Z")
Yeah, it’s a thing you do when you feel good about whatever it is you’ve accomplished. (Or when you’re taking a photo.) ex) A: Dude, did you score with that chick last night? B: \ Not exclusive to Japanese culture either - it’s common in Korea and China as well. (In Korea sometimes people will say “Bwee!” as well - a mispronunciation of “Vee.”) ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/7 "2007-09-23T13:54:42Z")
While we’re on the topic, does anyone know how modern speakers interpret that thing where someone pulls their lower eyelid down and sticks their tongue out? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/8 "2007-09-23T16:23:44Z")
[QUOTE=Omi no Kami] While we’re on the topic, does anyone know how modern speakers interpret that thing where someone pulls their lower eyelid down and sticks their tongue out? [/QUOTE] I believe it’s meant as a childish version of “screw you”. I’ve never seen anyone besides children and women who are always trying to be cute. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/9 "2007-09-23T21:23:29Z")
Also, in photographs, “Piisu!” is like “Cheese!” in that saying it makes you smile. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/10 "2007-09-23T22:06:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] I believe it’s meant as a childish version of “screw you”. I’ve never seen anyone besides children and women who are always trying to be cute. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that’s true in Korea, at least. I saw a commercial recently for a type of noodle dish that needs to be stirred up, and at the end of the commercial the female (the female teacher from High Kick in case anybody out there is curious) does that gesture. ‘Screw you’ definitely doesn’t fit the context there, although the ‘trying to be cute’ is probably right on. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/11 "2007-09-24T03:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Also, in photographs, “Piisu!” is like “Cheese!” in that saying it makes you smile. [/QUOTE] For prompting smiles in photos, I have more often heard people saying in Japanese “one plus one is…” and everybody responds “niiiiii” (two). I can’t help wondering if the peace sign, being two-fingered, is a play on that… just a nonverbal way of flashing a “cheesy” grin. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture/420128/12 "2007-09-24T04:15:21Z")
[QUOTE=audiobottle] I don’t think that’s true in Korea, at least. I saw a commercial recently for a type of noodle dish that needs to be stirred up, and at the end of the commercial the female (the female teacher from High Kick in case anybody out there is curious) does that gesture. ‘Screw you’ definitely doesn’t fit the context there, although the ‘trying to be cute’ is probably right on. [/QUOTE] Yea, that’s the weird thing! I’ve been told by older people that it’s basically a juvenile way of saying “Fuck you”, but that doesn’t seem to fit with the contexts it gets used in these days.