じゃん拳ぽん
Reading
じゃん 拳 ぽん
Meaning
English
German
Russian- usually written using kana aloneinterjectionrock! paper! scissors!, paper! scissors! rock!, one! two! three!called out before revealing one's hand
- usually written using kana alonenounrock-paper-scissors (game), janken
- see also:じゃんけん
- Stein-Schere-Papier-Spiel
- jan, ken, pon (Vers beim Stein-Schere-Papier-Spiel)
- дзянкэн (игра, а тж. своего рода бросание жребия для определения кому начать игру, сделать первый ход и т. п.), {～をする} играть в дзянкэн
How to write
Rock paper scissors
The rock paper scissors game is very popular in Japan. Know why.
Janken pon! じゃん拳ぽん This is the sentence to start a new game of rock paper scissors in Japan. This game is very popular among Japanese children since very old times. Did you know it was originated in Asia and it expanded from there to the rest of the world?
Some history
The game was created in China in the Han dynasty and from there it was imported into Japan where it became very popular. At the beginning the shapes done by the hands where very different from the ones used today. Instead of a rock, paper and scissors they represented a frog, a slug and a snake. After some time it evolved to the shapes we use today.
From Japan the game expanded to the rest of the world. In some countries like Peru and Brasil, the game is even known by the Japanese name: jan-ken-pon.
Rules of rock paper scissors in Japan
Who doesn’t know how to play it? This game is so popular everyone knows its rules. However, rock paper scissors in Japan has some particularities that make this game a bit different:
- The game starts when both players say: Saisho wa guu 最初はぐう. It literally means “Beginning with stone”. At the same time both players show their fists to start the game.
- This is followed by someone saying: Janken pon!じゃんけんぽん and all players showing either rock, paper or scissors at the sound of ponぽん
- If there is a tie it’s said Aiko deshou! 相子でしょう which means “it seems a tie” and all the players show their hands again until someone wins the game.
Those are the different shapes you can make with your hands:
