YOUR FAVOURITE JAPANESE GESTURE

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planctonman
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YOUR FAVOURITE JAPANESE GESTURE

Post by planctonman » Oct 11th, '06, 14:49

Hi! I'm new here, so I don't know if there's a post about this. I've spotted that japanese, do a lot of funny gestures, but they are difficult to understand. So I would like you to tell us your favourite gesture and the meaning if you know.

I'll begin with mine:

[img]http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2673/nyawp8.th.png[/img]
nya!

I don't know what exactly means, but I find it funny.

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Post by AngelicLayer » Oct 12th, '06, 13:46

well, i like the " YamaPi-Akira Kusano-gesture" ! You know this gestures from NwP!!! All the gestures YamaPi was doing there were really cute! Especially the " Nobuta Power" gesture!

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Post by azn-angelz-demons » Oct 14th, '06, 11:10

yeah i agree with the one on Gokusen 2

nya~~

its so kawaii~!!!!

and i also like YamaP in Kurosagi saying "bang" :wub:

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Post by jholic » Oct 15th, '06, 03:58

i notice that when americans point to themselves, they usually point their index finger to their chest ("me?")

when jp people point to themselves, they point to their noses.

the other one would have to be the 'peace' sign that is essential to every asian picture collection.

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Post by albertoavena » Oct 15th, '06, 06:19

Heh, yeah that's pretty neat. One of my favorites is when they are saying no, they do an "X" with their fingers..it's pretty funny and neat.

They kind of rub off on you after a while then you start doing them.. :lol The gestures, I mean..

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Post by Gir » Oct 20th, '06, 02:38

One of my favorites is the setting aside of a subject of conversation, with the descriptive motion of picking up an object and moving it over to the side.

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Post by 20centuryboy » Oct 20th, '06, 06:20

jholic wrote:i notice that when americans point to themselves, they usually point their index finger to their chest ("me?")

when jp people point to themselves, they point to their noses.
The nose being the home of the soul. :-) Maybe the occidentals point their hearts? home of their souls?

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Post by gryzze » Oct 20th, '06, 06:49

I think the Japanese "come here" gesture is pretty funny and easy to misunderstand if you haven't seen it before...

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Re: YOUR FAVOURITE JAPANESE GESTURE

Post by x_XJules » Oct 20th, '06, 06:59

planctonman wrote:nya!

I don't know what exactly means, but I find it funny.
it's mocking a cat. nya = meow.

when i went to japan i picked up a lot of the gestures. when you have troubles speaking the language you tend to use hand gestures, and it became a habit using the ones they know. sometimes i'll pull out the "X" when saying no and my american friends will look at me really weird. -__-;;
LoL, i must say i agree though! the japanese hand gestures are a lot of fun!

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Post by Jodarfett » Oct 20th, '06, 07:12

I personally think that the cutest gesture to me, is when a Japanese girl doesn't understand what a person is saying and they tilt their heads to the side and give that puzzled face. I think the comparison in American culture is when a person just says, "What?" to something they don't understand and pulls their neck back. This tilting of the head actually accents a Japanese girl's cuteness and if done in just the right fashion, can be considered very attractive.

Just my $0.02.

[img]http://myspace-107.vo.llnwd.net/00567/7 ... 4107_l.gif[/img]
This head tilt demonstrated by Ai Otsuka.

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Post by 20centuryboy » Oct 20th, '06, 07:29

gryzze wrote:I think the Japanese "come here" gesture is pretty funny and easy to misunderstand if you haven't seen it before...
Yes, can easily get confuse with " gee, it's really hot!" :mrgreen:

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Post by ephesus » Oct 20th, '06, 07:36

Have you ever seen that thing that people do some times where they pull the bottom of their eyelids down and stick their tongue out? It's supposed to be taunting but it just looks creepy.

And a google search says it's called "akanbei"

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Post by auroragb » Oct 20th, '06, 15:47

Nya! is just so great! Aki Hoshino's is quite classic
Haa? (head tilt) Inoue Mao perfected it
Kancho - Naruto made it a world wide phenomenon

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Post by FruitChaat » Oct 20th, '06, 15:59

ephesus wrote:Have you ever seen that thing that people do some times where they pull the bottom of their eyelids down and stick their tongue out? It's supposed to be taunting but it just looks creepy.

And a google search says it's called "akanbei"
haha thts my fav one
me and my friends use it all the time ;D

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Post by imutau » Oct 20th, '06, 16:16

Also when they point to their nose they sometimes use the middle finger! Ha cracks me up all the time since I know better but I'm sure anyone in the western world would take offense. It's not as common though since that gesture (the Bird) is being more commonly used for it's western reference in Japan now.

Off topic whats with people in the USA using the peace sign with their back hand showing out now a days? I think they would get beat up in the UK since it is the f*ck off sign there? I seem to see it alot and my nephews do it all the time in their pictures?

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Post by Néa Vanille » Oct 20th, '06, 17:02

auroragb wrote:Nya! is just so great! Aki Hoshino's is quite classic
Haa? (head tilt) Inoue Mao perfected it
Kancho - Naruto made it a world wide phenomenon
Inoue Mao usually had her head tilts followed by "eh?". It's much user than the English "huh?" so I've started using "eh?" + head tilt, too.

The biological reason why men prefer the head tilt is because they like submissive body language in women. The head tilt it is most definitely a submissive gesture - presenting the other person the tender jugular.

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Post by 20centuryboy » Oct 20th, '06, 20:05

Néa Vanille wrote:The biological reason why men prefer the head tilt is because they like submissive body language in women. The head tilt it is most definitely a submissive gesture - presenting the other person the tender jugular.
That's what they say in public. But in private, a few of them enjoy being tighten up to the convector.

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Post by android_04 » Oct 20th, '06, 20:41

how about the waving of the hand in front of the nose to mean no :)

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Post by edongs » Oct 21st, '06, 10:48

azn-angelz-demons wrote:yeah i agree with the one on Gokusen 2

nya~~

its so kawaii~!!!!

and i also like YamaP in Kurosagi saying "bang" :wub:
i agree with you

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Post by geoff2005 » Oct 21st, '06, 17:02

haha coolest one is making the shape heart using your whole arms.

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wow, I've finally found the meaning of the "nya!"

Post by planctonman » Oct 24th, '06, 17:51

Ok, I've been recently to Holland. In Amsterdam there's a red-light district (It's right this name? In Spain is called "Barrio Chino"), And in every shop of the district I found a Nya neko. A cat doing the gesture with the right front paw. So I asked the delivery person and He told to me that it's a neko used by salesman in Japan to attract good luck.
I think the gesture is used when good luck is needed. It's called Makori neko.

A suuuper nya for me!!

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Post by princess_jime » Nov 6th, '06, 22:59

You know, my mum always points to things with her middle finger, and she's not even japanese!, I tell ya, it's gotten her and the family in quite a lot of really akward and funny situations.
I don't know where she got it, cause we're all very much "western", latin-americans. And she knows what it means around these parts of the world.

Anyway, my most used gesture in real life has to be the head tilt with "Eh?" one, but I love when guys put their hands behind their heads when feeling embarrased or confused, I can just see the sweat drop...

And yes, the cat gesture is extremely kawaii! Nya!

(by the way: hi! I'm new!)

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Post by zarathoustra666 » Nov 6th, '06, 23:18

My favorite is ... it's impossible to tell! Most of Japanese corporal expressions are juste so cute. Well an image worth a thousand words;
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Post by Néa Vanille » Nov 7th, '06, 03:27

That chick totally creeps me out. She totally looks like Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy VIII. :lol ( <---- *video game nerd*)

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Post by Gir » Nov 7th, '06, 12:32


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Post by auroragb » Nov 7th, '06, 12:49

zarathoustra666 wrote:My favorite is ... it's impossible to tell! Most of Japanese corporal expressions are juste so cute. Well an image worth a thousand words;
funny you chose a image of a chinese chick for a japanese gesture example :)

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Chinese???

Post by zarathoustra666 » Nov 7th, '06, 13:09

:unsure: I though she was Japanese ... I don't even know her name ... let's presume she's Japanese
:P

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Post by Néa Vanille » Nov 7th, '06, 14:18

I actually don't think that girl is cute at all. I mean, of course she's cute, but she is cute in SUCH a attention-whorish, "look at me!! Aren't I just sooooooo cute?? *wink wink**pout pout*" kind of way that I don't really see what's attractive about it.

There are many Japanese actresses who are cute in a much more natural way, without having to resort to such fakeness. Rainie Yang (granted, not Japanese, but close enough) comes to mind - unbelievably cute, yet never in-your-face kind of cute.

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Post by gotons » Nov 7th, '06, 17:21

Néa Vanille wrote:I actually don't think that girl is cute at all. I mean, of course she's cute, but she is cute in SUCH a attention-whorish, "look at me!! Aren't I just sooooooo cute?? *wink wink**pout pout*" kind of way that I don't really see what's attractive about it.
Not trying to start an argument or anything, but isn't that a little bit of the pot calling the kettle black?

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Post by Néa Vanille » Nov 7th, '06, 17:32

Why?
Last edited by Néa Vanille on Nov 7th, '06, 17:43, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by gotons » Nov 7th, '06, 17:39

your picture....maybe i'm wrong.

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Post by Néa Vanille » Nov 7th, '06, 17:47

On this avatar I am not pouting or winking, nor am I doing cat paws on it. It's only that kind of behaviour that bothers me because it's very fake, it's trying to force people to think you're cute by doing things you otherwise wouldn't do. It's like that other gif I once saw with a girl doing a peace sign and winking like crazy from one eye to the other - pretty much something that I or any other normal girl wouldn't do unless she was trying to appear as the cutest thing since the invention of anime.

I am also not using that avatar to get any compliments. I've been a poster for one and half years and started using it a week ago - before that, I had no avatar whatsoever, for almost one and a half years of pretty active posting. I started using it merely because I didn't want to remain a faceless poster forever, yet didn't want to disguise myself behind a non-descriptive picture of an actress or an actor.

As for the aforementioned head tilt by Inoue Mao - I don't have any problems with that at all, because I think it's a genuinely cute gesture, that, above all, seems natural. As in, something that I can see a Japanese (or any other) woman doing without doing it for the sole purpose of looking cute - in short, something that is actually habitually and naturally done without ulterior motives.

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Post by gotons » Nov 7th, '06, 17:50

ahh, wasn't intended to come off as an ass.....I'm sick and I guess it was the meanness coming out of me!

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Post by Néa Vanille » Nov 7th, '06, 17:53

I get that. It's hard to be nice all the time. :lol

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Post by <3s-tei. » Nov 13th, '06, 21:02

jholic wrote:i notice that when americans point to themselves, they usually point their index finger to their chest ("me?")

when jp people point to themselves, they point to their noses.

the other one would have to be the 'peace' sign that is essential to every asian picture collection.
I just want to add to this a bit. I read this topic a couple of days ago, and something my Japanese teacher said today reminded me of the pointing to the nose.

My teacher was teaching us the Kanji for 'watashi', which means 'I'. ([img]http://www.minikjaponya.com/images/icer ... atashi.gif[/img]). And she said the right side of the kanji was a side profile of a Japanese person's nose. Her explanation is that Japanese point to their noses when they say "me?".

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Post by moogli » Nov 22nd, '06, 15:08

android_04 wrote:how about the waving of the hand in front of the nose to mean no :)
I like that one too :lol
Like, when you go; " No, no, no, no, no...! XD" and wave your hand frantically in front of your face haha
"Chigaimasu...!! "
Néa Vanille wrote:On this avatar I am not pouting or winking, nor am I doing cat paws on it. It's only that kind of behaviour that bothers me because it's very fake, it's trying to force people to think you're cute by doing things you otherwise wouldn't do.
The "morning musume" posing style.. that gets on my nervs too ^^
I see them in teen-magazines.. and on TV when they do "food-reports" and go "AHh~<3 oishiiiii~ <3<3<3<3<3" even if they're eating a live squid :crazy:
That kind of behaviour is considered really really fake in Japan tho. You'll be called a "burikko"(a "faking cute-girl" ) if you do it haha Other girls will hate you keheh.

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Post by Aulcard » Nov 24th, '06, 03:02

Since living in Japan I have started using some of the gestures as well. Pointing to my noise, finger batsu, sometimes full arm batsu (if I am joking around usually), japanese style 'come here' wave, waving my hand to mean 'no', the 'peace' sign when in photos.

When I go back to australia next year I am sure that at first I will do them without thinking and end up looking rather strange.
Eg.
brother: you want a cup of tea?
me: *waves hand*
brother: ... hello?

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Crossing two index fingers

Post by richardli » Jan 1st, '07, 15:40

I like Crossing two index fingers in an X to signal 'can I have the bill now"

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Post by Kanin » Jan 1st, '07, 16:38

zarathoustra666 wrote:My favorite is ... it's impossible to tell! Most of Japanese corporal expressions are juste so cute. Well an image worth a thousand words;
No whorish skanky or just bad taste is what you will find at the oscar or any other 'big' red carpet display. There you will have some real ingenuine gestures and smiles. :lol

This girl's smile is of course forced but it's a fine exmple of something fantastic cute, and so is her gesture. I think you can lose face terribly trying to do a gesture like this but this girl doesn't. I would think she's Japanese but if she's Chinese or Korean or from Singapore it don't make any difference.


I like most gestures in general and the really cute ones don't need to be restricted to young people. I like the fact that it's socially accepted in countries like Japan that you bow. It's a great symbol of respect to me. In European countries it would be ridiculed at.

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Post by fatmouse » Feb 10th, '09, 07:01

My favourite Japanese gesture is the bow. They are always bowing - when you enter and leave a shop.

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Japanese Gestures

Post by PetitLolita3 » Feb 10th, '09, 19:51

I grew up in Japan from the ages of 2-6, so from a young age I indirectly learned these gestures.. Since then I've been in the states and thought i lost all of my gestures until my ex said to me. "Why do you do that? You bow everytime you meet someone." I was completely shocked becasue i was doing it without noticing. I'm sure i wasnt bowing very far forward like in Japan, but the next time i did it I noticed that i would physically lean forward or just bow my head & neck slightly while leaning in for a handshake.. Pretty weird right?? :scratch: But generally I feel like each time i do it I'm granted into their personal space.. :P

n_n

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Post by Sojiro » Feb 10th, '09, 20:27

I noticed that a lot of people in japan (male and female) are "hiding" behind their hands when they start to laugh. I think it looks pretty cute and seems very polite to me.

I thought the bow would have been the first gesture to mention here, but it was posted just now XD After doing Kendo for 1 1/2 years, bowing became some kind of habit and I still slightly, nearly not visible bow very often when speaking to people I'm not familiar with.


(And maybe it's just me, but I start bowing a lot when I talk to Japanese people, which ends up in a pretty ridiculous scene most of the time XD Both sides constantly bowing XDDD)

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Post by PiaHawk » Feb 14th, '09, 03:08

I like when they pretend to fall. For example when some one says something stupid, or if they don't finish their sentence, then everyone else will do sort of a fake trip.

I also like the peace sign, but I don't really consider that a Japanese gesture. I've been doing peace signs my whole life, though usually my hand is facing the other way from the way they do it in Japan.

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Post by Silentwolfdog » Feb 14th, '09, 04:15

PiaHawk wrote:I like when they pretend to fall. For example when some one says something stupid, or if they don't finish their sentence, then everyone else will do sort of a fake trip.
Yeah, that's my favorite gesture too, sort of tripping the whole body instead of tilting one's head. More dramatic that way I guess.

Wish, I knew the word for that gesture. They never gave it a name?

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Post by Ginto-gin » Feb 14th, '09, 05:10

ephesus wrote:Have you ever seen that thing that people do some times where they pull the bottom of their eyelids down and stick their tongue out? It's supposed to be taunting but it just looks creepy.

And a google search says it's called "akanbei"
Ah, now this is a gesture (usually to mock someone) that I learned in my childhood. I didn't know it's also a Japanese gesture until I saw it in an anime. I was so amused, it brought back childhood memories!

My favorite Japanese gesture has to do with the pouring of drinks. I once organized a dinner for a group of friends and sat next to my Japanese friend. Her glass was low on wine, so naturally, being the organizer, I refreshed her glass with a pour. Before I could put down the bottle she motioned for me to hand her the bottle, which I did. She then refreshed my glass. This polite exchange happened a couple of more times throughout the dinner. I realized later on that this gesture was part of Japanese drinking etiquette.

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Post by infundibuliform » Feb 25th, '09, 05:48

fatmouse wrote:My favourite Japanese gesture is the bow. They are always bowing - when you enter and leave a shop.
I nearly do that "Arigatou gozaimasu!!!!" *bows* thing a lot. But at the risk of losing all of my friends, I nod my head or something. hahaha But saying thank you too many times in a row whilst bowing is such a subliminal message. I didn't realize I was doing it. haha

About the fake kawaii girls...I'm not kawaii or anything, but I am "cute." It's so annoying though because it makes me look half my age. I just smile a lot and am pretty short, so the combination.... But I have friend that is like the burriko, I think. It's so annoying because here I am trying to downsize the cutest and she's trying to be cute! Like she does that giggle crap a lot and pitches her voice higher sometimes and when she's feeling energetic she prances or skips or suddenly has a hop in her step. (She's all about shojo manga, though.)

burriko reminds me of burrito

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