Folklore Form/Genre: Japanese gesture/mannerism       Informant: Danny Chiang

Name: Japanese Nose Gesture           Place of Origin: Japan

Date Collected: 11/4/2018

Informant Data:

Danny Chiang was born on 11/3/60 in Taiwan. His parents are also of Taiwanese decent, but grew up during a time when Taiwan was heavily influenced by Japan. When he was five, Danny moved to Japan for 2 years and ended up going to a few years of elementary school in Japan. There, he learned many different gestures and elements of Japanese culture.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

I collected this gesture from Danny over FaceTime. He is my father so I thought he would be a great person to ask about Japanese gestures. He told me that this particular gesture was one of his favorites. He then proceeded to put his finger on his nose and pushed it back, making his face look like a pig. I thought it was quite amusing and he explained that people use this to call someone ugly and dumb, as the pig as seen as an ugly, dumb, and dirty animal in Japanese culture.

Cultural Context:

This is a way Japanese people, especially children, like to make fun of each other. Although it won’t be gestured directly towards someone, it is used behind someones back to make fun of somebody else. The “pig” face was a common insulting gesture that my father used a lot.

Item:

Informant’s Comments:

Danny said he used to always do this gesture to his friends to make fun of them. It was very popular growing up among his friends in Japan.

Collector’s Comments: 

I find it really interesting how Japanese people use animals as a insulting gesture. It is quite clever and funny and I see how it could be applicable throughout multiple cultures, not just Japanese culture.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chiang

Tags/Keywords:

• Gestures
• Japan
• Insulting
• Nose
• Mannerism