{"id":623,"date":"2006-10-21T22:38:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-21T22:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/wordpress\/?p=623"},"modified":"2006-10-21T22:38:00","modified_gmt":"2006-10-21T22:38:00","slug":"cultural-question-why-do-asians-always-do-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2006\/10\/21\/cultural-question-why-do-asians-always-do-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural question: Why do Asians always do this?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So last night I got bored and started surfing the web… and I came across one of those personals sites, one that claimed it was the best at helping people from all over the world meet. So I clicked their Search button, and you can probably guess which country I searched for first. But there weren’t many Romanians on the site, probably because it’s rather expensive to become a member.<\/p>\n

So I picked another country at random… Japan. And I noticed that in about 60-70% of the Japanese women’s profiles, there was at least one picture of them doing this:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>
Now, I remembered back when I taught at the U of M, I had a Chinese grad assistant, and one time I took a pic of her and she made that hand sign too. So I started searching for Chinese girls on the personals site, and sure enough, most of them had at least one photo of them making that gesture. Next I tried Thai girls. Same thing. Vietnamese. Same thing. Taiwanese. Same thing.<\/p>\n

What’s the deal with that? Why do Asians always (or at least, often) make that gesture when they have their picture taken?<\/p>\n

Edited to add Sunday night 10\/22\/06, after about 11 beers at Sleep Out Louie’s, the Tap Room, and the Flying Saucer (from where I’m posting this): Regular blog reader\/Asian studies major Carmel, who used to teach in Japan and was also baffled by this behavor, sends the following, from Wikipedia:<\/span><\/p>\n

“During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure<\/span>
skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture<\/span>
when she fell during a free-skate period\u2014but continued<\/span>
to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed<\/span>
only 3rd in the actual competition, her cheerful<\/span>
diligence and indefatigability resonated with many<\/span>
Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in<\/span>
Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was<\/span>
repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese<\/span>
media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior<\/span>
to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied<\/span>
occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese<\/span>
for having popularized its use in amateur photographs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the 1970s and 1980s in Japan, the V sign was<\/span>
often accompanied by a vocalization: “piisu!” This<\/span>
gairaigo exclamation, which stood for “peace”, has<\/span>
since fallen into disuse, though the V sign itself<\/span>
remains steadfastly popular.<\/span><\/p>\n

The V sign is also commonly used in anime and Japanese<\/span>
live-action shows. When characters show this sign, it<\/span>
is often accompanied by an exclamation of “Vui!”<\/span>
(pronounced “vwee!”), an exaggeration, or possible<\/span>
slurring (see Engrish) of the English pronunciation<\/span>
“vee”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps due to Japanese cultural influence, the V sign<\/span>
in photographs has become popular with young Koreans,<\/span>
Hong Kongers, and Taiwanese as well. The sign is<\/span>
ubiquitous in Taiwan and is closely associated with<\/span>
the English word, “happy”. Print and television<\/span>
advertisements read “happy” with hands waving while<\/span>
displaying the V sign, and the average Taiwanese<\/span>
person will invariably give that word as the meaning<\/span>
of the sign.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"