Janken
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Janken (Japanese: じゃん拳) "Jan ken" is "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in the English-speaking world, and it is the most popular of a subset of games played using only your hands, known as "Ken games" (ken asobi/拳遊び?). It was invented in the late 19th century and acquired popularity world-wide throughout the 20th century.
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[edit] History
Janken is believed to have been based on two older Ken games, "Kuma Ken" (数拳?) and "San Sukumi Ken" (三すくみ拳?). San Sukumi Ken existed in Japan since ancient times, and Kuma Ken was imported from China in the late 17th century. Ken games began to increase in popularity in the middle of the 19th century. Janken is believed to have been invented in the late 19th century, judging from textual sources of the time about Ken games.
[edit] Rules
Usually, though not always, the game starts by both players chanting "saisho wa guu!" (最初はぐう！?) ("starting with the stone!") while pumping their fists to synchronize the moves.
They repeat the same pumping while chanting "jan ken pon!". On "pon", the players show a fist for "rock" (guu/ぐう?), index and middle fingers extended in a V for "scissors" (choki/ちょき?), or all fingers extended for "paper" (paa/ぱあ?). The exchange is won as determined by the rules:
- Scissors cuts Paper
- Paper wraps Rock
- Rock breaks Scissors
Ties are broken by repeated plays, either accompanied by two more fist pumps with "aiko desho!" (あいこでしょ！?) ("isn't that a tie!") or the more rapid single-pump with "pon!". There exist many other less popular regional variations.
[edit] The Hand-signs
- "rock" (guu/ぐー?)
- "scissors" (choki/ちょき?)
There are two different ways to form the scissors, as illustrated below:
- Image:Thoki2.jpg (Woman's choki) (modern way)
- Image:Thoki1.jpg (Man's choki, Country person's choki) (old way, seldom used outside Japan)
- "paper" (paa/ぱー?)
[edit] Variations
In some versions of the game, a second round of play is used. After one player has won the paper/scissors/stone game, another count of three is conducted with the phrase "acchi muite hoi!" (あっち向いてホイ！?) ("hey, look [turn] over there!"). On "hoi!", the player who won previously points in one of four directions (up, down, left, or right), and the player who lost previously tilts their head to look in one of those directions. If both directions are the same, the game is over, and the player pointing is declared the final winner; if the directions are not the same, the game reverts back to the original "jan ken pon" and the original winner's win is cancelled.
A further variant makes use of the rhythmic nature of the phrases and counts of three; every time a round is played, the tempo of the game is increased slightly. If a player loses tempo, they lose. It is quite easy for a long sequence of draws, or of fails to guess correctly in the second round, to result in the game reaching breakneck speed.
Many examples of on-line and stand-alone versions of this game, written in Flash, Java or JavaScript, etc. can be found on the internet.
[edit] Multimedia Appearances
Janken is often used as a means of duelling in the Sega-created Alex Kidd series of action-platformers for the Master System and Genesis. Furthermore, in the NES game Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, both of the first two rounds (the rock-paper-scissors and the "look away" game) are used whenever a fight with an enemy comes up, with victory often being declared to whomever wins the look-away portion three times. Janken also makes a brief appearance in the Sony PlayStation music/rhythm game PaRappa the Rapper in a cut scene, when three of the characters (PaRappa, Katy Kat and P.J. Berri) are trying to divvy birthday party duties amongst themselves. In the music realm, the Japanese pop group Mini Moni released a single titled "Minimoni Jankenpyon!".
[edit] Kuma Ken
"Kuma Ken" is another example of Ken game. It is played mainly around the Hitoyoshi City in the Kumamoto Prefecture. It is believed to have originated in the Edo period, in the Shogun's court.
The players show their hands simultaneously, after chanting "hii, fuu, san", forming a number from 0 to 5. Whoever has chosen the largest number wins. For instance, 1 beats 0, 2 beats 1, etc. However, 0 beats 5. If both players choose the same number, it is considered a draw. Winning twice in a row is required for victory.
Some people believe it was the origin of the widely known janken, as 3 of the 6 possible hands in the game are the same, and the rules are similar.
| Number | Shape | Image | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Make a fist. | Image:Guu.jpg | guu |
| 1 | Extend only the thumb. | Image:Ithc.jpg | |
| 2 | Extend the thumb and index. | Image:Thoki1.jpg | choki |
| 3 | Extend the middle and ring fingers, as well as the pinky. | Image:Sann.jpg | |
| 4 | Extend all the fingers except the thumb. | Image:Yonn.jpg | |
| 5 | Extend all the fingers. | Image:5pa.jpg | paa |
[edit] Team play
The traditional way to play Kuma Ken is to form two teams with 5 players each. Each team sits on one side of a long table, in such a way that 5 pairs of players opposite each other are formed. For each pair, ten sticks are laid on the table. Then, each of them plays the game ten times, whoever wins collecting a stick each time. When there are no sticks left, the pairs are shifted, and the same process is repeated until everyone in each team has played against every member of the opposing team.
The team which collects more sticks out of the total of 250 is declared the winner.
[edit] External links
Japanese
