Want to pump up your selfie game?
Check out these amazing selfie poses that are BIG IN JAPAN!
Excellence in the Art of Strong Selfie’ing takes practice and continued innovation.
SelfieYo brings you selfie trends & news from around the world. We’re super amped to report on some of the wildest moves in Japanese selfie poses.
If you’re dedicated to constantly improving your selfie game, you need to take a look at this!
Peace Sign Selfie ✌️
The peace sign is a global symbol that’s been used for decades. Japanese girls have taken the classic move to a whole new level of selfie game strong.
If you feel the urge to add some flare to an otherwise banal selfie, when in doubt, pull out the ol’ peace sign and rock it like these dolls.
“Tooth Ache” Pose 🦷
If you think this pose was secretly funded by Japanese dentists, you’d be wrong – but nice try.
The genesis of the “Tooth Ache” selfie pose is from fashion magazines that wanted to showcase cover models’ nails. Advertisers of nail products would quietly encourage photographers to cajole the Japanese models into showing-off their freshly painted nails during a cover shoot.
The move stuck and now girls all over Japan count this as one of their staple selfie poses!
“Gao” Selfie (Paw Pose)
General Gao’s chicken? NO! This is roar-roar Japanese style!
While the genesis of the paw pose is slightly disputed among the selfie elite of Tokyo, there’s no question that paw pose is fierce.
Some suggest that the “Gao” pose comes from Harajuku pop star, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Others give credit to Lady Gaga who uses Paw Pose as the Little Monsters rally call.
Either way, the selfie paw pose is now nearly a universal sign of being a playful, potentially furry, jungle cat who knows how to accentuate a selfie.
“Elaiza” Selfie
Who’s Elaiza, you may ask? She’s a Japanese model, born in the Philippines, who won the “Grand Prize Nicola Model Audition” in 2009.
And it’s been a non-stop rise to global selfie superstar status ever since! Elaiza has been a cover model for CanCam, a popular Japanese fashion magazine.
She’s perfected the subtle cheek-squeeze pose that is said to accentuate the lips for the selfie camera.
Evidentially it works because millions of Japanese girls now do the “Elaiza” selfie pose when they want to draw attention to their lips. Try it!
“Hamu Hamu” Selfie
Hamu Hamu is the new Duck Face Selfie.
Gently biting your lower lip is perceived as a more sophisticated selfie pose than the now passé duck face.
If you want to be in-the-know when it comes to selfie fashion, this is perhaps the most important Japanese trend to pick up on.
Duck face is out. Hamu Hamu is in.
There’s a lot of variety potential to Hamu Hamu, but you’ll have to train your mouth to maneuver correctly.
Since camera shutter speed can come into play when trying to capture the optimal Hamu Hamu selfie, we suggest using SelfieYo’s automated smile detector in our selfie chat app.
It’s currently available for iPhone on the App Store and coming very soon to Android on Google Play.
We’ll be adding some additional Hamu Hamu detection for improving your selfie photos with technology.
Drinking Selfie
This one is pretty selfie-explanatory – take a selfie while delicately sipping a beverage from a straw.
https://twitter.com/pamyurin/status/594512744608464896/photo/1
The go-to beverage of choice is a Starbucks Frappuccino because the color contrasts of the green straw, white whipped cream and brown suspension drink is thought to draw attention to the subject’s eyes and mouth.
If you look closely, the clever selfie-takers will use the cup as a billboard to post subtle, secondary messages in their photos.
Pinch-the-Cheek Selfie
We’re not really sure about the origins of the pinch-the-cheek move, but it’s a sure fire way to introduce something new to your selfie routine.
Pinching the cheek is a playful pose that forces your brain to use one hand for the camera and one hand for the pose.
It’s quite possible that this move could be among the best selfie poses for improving motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
We suggest you start with light pinches so as to not damage any delicate cheek tissue.
https://twitter.com/enako_cos/status/625897601179631617/photo/1
Also, you probably should not combine this one with Hamu Hamu; a pinch and lip bite at the same time is a serious move for highly experienced selfie professionals only.
Cover-the-Mouth Selfie
This selfie pose is a close cousin of the Tooth Ache Pose due to the proximity of one hand to the face, thus facilitating display of nails and rings.
The motivation for the cover-the-mouth selfie pose is often to signify some exclusive message that is meant to be understood only by those in-the-know.
The thing about this pose that’s really important to remember is that anytime you put your hand on or over your mouth, you’re risking the introduction of germs into your system.
https://twitter.com/0608Yukiusagi/status/641829127041888256/photo/1
If you’re going to selfie with a hand over your mouth, make sure your paws are clean.
https://twitter.com/pamyurin/status/633840902931267584/photo/1
Pistol Mouth Pose
Only in Japan can the Pistol Mouth Selfie Pose be used as frequently as once-a-day.
For everyone else, you should use the pistol pose sparingly because it’s among the most misunderstood selfie moves out there.
There’s something devilish about the perpendicular angle of the index finger and thumb when used as a prop to signify selfie game strong.
It’s mysterious, yet lends itself to creative interpretation.
https://twitter.com/manami_enosawa/status/618806310629326848/photo/1
Pistol selfie at your own risk.
The One-Eye Selfie
Ode to the blind? Probably not.
https://twitter.com/pamyurin/status/635359374148399105/photo/1
Like a lot of innovation in selfie poses, the one-eye move is thought to be related to a desire to showcase eye makeup and nail polish.
Initially, the one-eye pose was more explicitly tied to a finger pointing to the eye on display.
However, over time, the one-eye pose took on a life of its own, as Tokyo nightclubs would regularly feature one-eye selfie posers on their social media pages more so than any other pose.
Today, we’re seeing this gesture work its way into mainstream culture all over the world.
From pulling the one-eye pose while ordering lunch at McDonald’s, to one-eye’ing it at concerts for photos – the one-eye is said to be a power move at in the Tokyo underground selfie scene.
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If you need even more selfie tips, don’t forget to see these suggestions from SelfieYo.