You know you’ve seen it, and you know you’ve wondered why asian people use it so often. All asians: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and (Insert Asian Ethnicity)-ese have utilized this sign in pictures from the time of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, where an embarrassed Janet Lynn raised it up in victory after falling on her rump. This phenomenon, from that moment, spread faster than a Windows Vista virus because the Japanese Media plastered it on every poster and television advertisement. (Before that, Americans used it to signal “V” -ictory during WWII, but the Japanese seldom used it as a peace sign.)
“So what is this mysterious V-sign? Is it truly the universal sign for “peace”? A secret sign adopted by a global underground Asian cult who’s mission is to become the next super-race? Or perhaps an ancient math puzzle developed by the monks of the Shaolin Temple?” -FOBSPOT
The truth lies in asian culture, where people are notably shy and outspoken. They have no other means of expressing their happiness, other than a smile, because everyone knows even an asian smile 
can be mistaken for their chinky eye lining. To show that they are indeed happy, asians outline their grinning chins with a “V” sign to draw attention away from their non-existant eyes. They also wouldn’t ever want to yell something while taking a picture because it would draw more attention to them. However, Asians are always stoked when a photo opp arises. In these situations, asians, instead of using America’s ludicrously awkward phrase, “Cheese,” will use the peace sign to show that they are indeed present in the photograph. By present, I mean enthusiastic and excited about being in someone else’s life story. This is due in part to the Asian love for emotional-understanding and inciting reactions (later post).
That’s why Stuff Asian People Like’s Peter Nguyen went straight to the source this Saturday (China Town) to find out the truth about the Peace Sign. Though many refused to answer (or simply didn’t know how to), there were a myriad of explanations. One such responder, who’s face lit up with joy when asked, was very accommodating and said that the peace sign was ubiquitous with “Being Number One, Victory,” or in Japan, “Ichiban!” She proceeded to demonstrate various positions in which the sign would mean different things. The funny thing is that she was making hamster noises in every which position to emphasize the importance of placement. For example, a “V” sign in front of the face means that the asian is very egotistical and wants to draw the most attention possible to themselves. However, a lower-third peace sign around the abdomen region means that they are more reserved, and don’t want to overshadow others in the picture. Side-ways in front of the eyes is most definitely an older asian’s 80’s statement.
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The previous explanation was extremely thorough, but one little feline has most spurred on the globalization of the peace sign: Hello Kitty. Not just Hello Kitty, but all her Sanrio friends, anime/manga series, and commercial television have made the
peace sign popular among school girls and in some cases, boys. (Batz Maru, Pochocco, and Pekkle are not female characters). Even though the fingers are non-existent in some cases, this pose has caused a revolution in which children think it’s necessary to raise peace signs to look cute and innocent. The sign lives on today as the residual of a more innocent time in which kids didn’t grow up with computers and instead drew pictures of their favorite cartoon characters.
It started out as a victory and peace statement. It later became a way for an olympian to divert attention from herself (by using a local gesture) after suffering an extremely embarrassing fall. It rode the immigrant train into the Americas, where asian people have diversified it and turned it into a cultural phenomenon. The Peace Sign is definitely something that Asians like because it’s one of the first global habits that is purely “asian.”
Last 5 posts by Peter
- Learn an Asian Language - October 8th, 2008
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- Stuff Asian People Like T-Shirt is Here! - August 2nd, 2008
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22 responses so far ↓
1 Peter // Mar 15, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Japanese children learn to make the V-sign atsuch a young age that it is as instinctive a reaction to a camera as smiling. A reporter for Japan Today asked some young Japanese why they made the sign, and got some interesting answers. Seiichi Igeta, aged 17, replied:
“I make the peace sign but I don’t know why I do it, who invented it and when we started doing this. I think I’ve been doing it since I was born. The peace sign gesture must have been programmed in my DNA, or foreigners mind-controlled Japanese to make the peace sign subconsciously when we pose for a photo to keep the peace after the war.”
There was also a discussion on the subject on Japan Forum, the online community dedicated to all things Japanese. Westerner Mike Cash, wrote:
“A really odd thing is that most Japanese don’t even realize they’re doing it, and furthermore seem not to even notice them in their pictures. I remember a high school girl showing me a group photo taken on a school trip. There were about 50 girls in the picture and about 70 or 80 peace signs. (We counted!) Though the photo looked like a huge mass of peace signs to me and it was the first thing that struck me, nobody else present who saw the picture (all Japanese) noticed them at all.”
The palm-forward V-sign was first used to represent peace in the US in the 1960s, by people campaigning against the war in Vietnam, such as Yoko Ono. Although she is Japanese, Ono probably learned to make the sign in America. How this gesture, previously standing for victory, came to mean “peace” is yet another mystery.
One theory is that the gesture was popularised in Japan by the US figure skater, Janet Lynn, during the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Although she came third in the event, and fell over on the ice, she captured the hearts of the Japanese public with her constant cheerfulness - Japanese children are also encouraged to be cheerful at all times. A peace campaigner, Lynn was photographed many times making the peace sign, and people began to copy her.
The V-sign has now spread to young people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, probably due to the Japanese influence. One reason for its popularity is that it is so easy to do. Seima Sekine, in Japan Today, said, “Even when I don’t feel like I have to smile, I can easily make the V sign and show my desire for peace in a photo.”
2 Justin // Mar 15, 2008 at 6:43 pm
awesomely hilarious post, Peter! we’ve been waiting for this one.
3 Shaun // Mar 15, 2008 at 6:49 pm
The peace sign is definitely a secret sign adopted by a global underground Asian cult. It’s a conspiracy, and the use of the peace sign shows newfound membership into that cult. I dunno how else it woulda seeped into Asian culture that rapidly…
4 Rich Nguyen // Mar 16, 2008 at 7:40 am
Viet ppl don’t do peace signs. LOL. That’s definitely a Chinese, Japanese, And Korean thing. Southeast Asians don’t do that foreela.z We too hood to throw up peace signs. We throw gang sings.
5 Raina // Mar 16, 2008 at 1:15 pm
When is the obsession with white and what Asians think it means to be white gonna make the list? You know, the blaring white makeup that a lot of Asians wear, the attitude, lifestyle and mindsets that Asians THINK white people have and aspire to emulate…the ‘colonization’ of the Asian mind?
I LOVE to see that!
6 SD Steve // Mar 16, 2008 at 5:07 pm
When I asked a colleague of mine in Taiwan what the “V” sign meant, she just looked at me and said “bunny rabbit”.
7 Shaun // Mar 17, 2008 at 1:16 am
You should do your own piece on that Raina and send it in to Peter and Justin…
8 YASPY Chick // Mar 20, 2008 at 6:03 am
You sure it isn’t a middle class kid who wants to be a rapper thing?
9 Sutefanii // Apr 2, 2008 at 11:52 am
I see that…
my best friends….
10 Sutefanii // Apr 2, 2008 at 11:52 am
http://a247.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_8c203896a6cd767c474ce3819e6b22a6.jpg
11 ewww // Apr 11, 2008 at 9:49 pm
ewwwwww
12 CoolDustin82 // Apr 19, 2008 at 11:57 am
I wondered why I always saw this in Japanese anime despite the connotations of having two atomic bombs dropped on their heads. Now I know it has to do with the 1972 Olympics. Very informative.
13 Steve // May 13, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I through up my middle finger alot.
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15 Guest // Jul 20, 2008 at 7:56 pm
besides the peace sign, there is also a good thumbs up!
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17 kk // Jul 26, 2008 at 3:17 pm
no, the peace sign is never ok… it just makes you look fob
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20 Tiamari // Aug 12, 2008 at 10:41 am
Peace, brothers and sisters!
21 Anonymous // Aug 28, 2008 at 7:04 pm
what about peace signs over your mouth and your tongue sticking out
22 Helen // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:36 am
i’m pretty sure the “v” sign used to be a satanic representation of how much the other person’s sperm count is.
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