JapanNewbie

A Desperate Game of Paper Scissors Rock. And Harisen.

Posted on 24. Jan, 2009 @ 9:53 pm by harvey in Culture, Humor, Media, Society Views: 787

An intense paper scissors rock battle ensues.

This is a game show featuring the stars of the famous comedy duo Downtown. Hama-chan (浜ちゃん) is the guy playing paper scissors rock in this video, and Machan (松っちゃん) is the referee.

The rules for this game go something like this: Each participant throws their chosen sign (paper scissors or rock), and the loser has to quickly grab a helmet and place it on his head before he is get smacked by the giant fan-like object (called a harisen) that is so often used to smack people over the head with in Japan. If they are able to get the helmet on before they get smacked, the game continues and they immediately do paper scissors rock again. The game ends when one person wins paper scissors rock and is able to smack the other person on the head with the harisen before they get the helmet on properly.

As you can see, Hama-chan gets a bit excited when he finally wins a round!

But wait!

This is JapanNewbie! I’m not going to simply throw a video at you and let you laugh at the physical comedy… We’re here to learn about Japanese culture! So here we go.

As I mentioned, this giant-fan like object is called a “HARISEN” (はりせん) and is frequently used in Japanese comedy. Just check Google Images for はりせん and you can get an idea about how prevalent it is in Japanese culture.

Harisen even has it’s own wikipedia entry in Japanese. The article explains that the harisen is a folded piece of paper bound at one in with tape or something like that. It is used by using the taped end as a handle, and smacking the face or head of someone with the other end. Because it is made of folded paper, it makes a very loud POP when it strikes, yet doesn’t hurt much at all. Indeed, the user can smack full strength without really hurting anyone.

I’m sure you’ve probably seen these harisen in various movies, tv shows, or anime. Does anyone have any particularly interesting harisen things they want to share? Let me know in the comments!

Harisen even makes an appearance in Super Smash Brothers X… and is quite funny.

Check this harisen event at 0:45.

By the way, if you want to know how to play jyan-ken-pon Japanese style with 3 or more people, read this jyan-ken-pon guide that I wrote way (WAY!) back in 2002.

Now everyone go make a harisen and smack someone around. I’m not promoting comedic violence.

- Harvey

Tags: japan comedy harisen culture