What is Janken?

Pretty much everyone knows “rock, paper, scissors”. It’s a classic. The game is used to make decisions, solve arguments, and often times just for fun. Almost every country plays some version of it, for example Italy, South Korea, France and the United States, all play “rock, paper, scissors”. Japan plays as well and their version of “rock, paper, scissors” is called janken.  

Origins in China 

The game didn’t start in Japan, or the United States for that matter. Like many random things where you wonder “where did ‘X’ come from?”, it all started in Ancient China. The first recorded mention of a similar game, called shoushiling, was in the book Wuzazu. According to that book, the game started in the Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD). 

A similar kind of game to shoushiling is referenced throughout Japanese history and came to be known as sansukumi-ken, roughly translating to “three-way deadlock” with ken meaning “fist”. There are several versions of sansukumi-ken with mushi–ken being the first and taken directly from China. In mushi-ken, instead of rock, paper, scissors, there was frog, slug and snake. The three animals were represented by sticking your pinky, thumb or index finger, respectively, out from your fist. 

In Japan today, the most popular and best known sansukumi-ken is none other than janken. Modern rock, paper, scissors in the United States was actually directly derived from janken, which was first introduced to Japan from China in the 17^th century and also used the same hand signs for rock, paper, scissors. 

How to Play Janken   

The first step in learning to play janken is to learn what to say. While janken is similar to rock, paper, scissors, there a few subtle differences. Knowing what to say in Japanese and when/how to move your hand helps a lot. 

Just like in the U.S. and elsewhere, rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock. While the hand signs are the same, the terminology is different.  

Step 1: Players start by saying saishowaguu (最初はグー), meaning “first fist” or “first rock”, and holding out their closed fists. 

Step 2: Next players chant Jankenpon (じゃんけんぽん). As soon as they say “pon” they show their move, either rock (guu グー), paper (paa パー), or scissors (choki チョキ).  

Step 3: If both players pick the same hand sign, then it’s a draw. Both players then chant Aiko desho (相子でしょ), which means “Looks like it’s a draw”, and immediately show their new hand signs on “sho”. This will repeat until it’s no longer a draw. 

You’ll want to be prepared if there is a draw because you’ll go right into chanting Aiko desho. It can be a little fast pace compared to the U.S.’s version of “rock, paper, scissors”. 

More than Just a Game 

Janken is ingrained in Japanese society and it’s not just children who play. It’s used to solve arguments and make decisions both large and small. People use it to decide who pays for drinks and some restaurants even have events where you can challenge waiters/waitresses to janken for free drinks or food.  

The Undefeated Robot Champ

The BBC reported on a story in 2012 about researchers at Tokyo University who took the game a step further. The researchers created a robotic hand that is so good at janken it’s never lost. Basically, the robot was able to calculate what move you’re going pick right as your hand starts to take shape. Since it can decide and move so fast, it doesn’t look suspicious. While this seems a bit like cheating, it’s not technically against any rules and therefore the robot is undefeated. Since then they have improved on the robot hand several times. 

Using Janken to Make Big Decisions

There are other wild stories about janken in Japanese life; like this story from the NY Times back in 2005. Takashi Hashiyama was president of an electronics company called Maspro Denkoh Corporation, located outside Nagoya, Japan. He was selling the company’s art collection in one of New York’s Auction houses. A collection valued at over 20 million U.S. dollars; however, Mr. Hashiyama was unable to decide which auction house he would allow to sell his collection. Either Christie’s or Sotheby’s. So, he decided the two would compete in a game of rock, paper, scissors… making it possibly the most expensive and high-stakes game of janken ever played. 

Better Start Practicing  

While some decisions in the United States may be decided by coin toss more often than rock, paper, scissors, janken reigns supreme in Japan. So, if you’re visiting Japan sometime soon, maybe brush up on the rules and what to say. You never know when you might need to throw down for some free drinks… or maybe even for something with higher-stakes.