Japanese Gestures

Today in Japanese 1 we learned a gesture for use when saying "excuse me" 「しつれいですが。。。」or 「しつれいします。」It looks like this:

Source: tofugu.com/guides/japanese-body-language

To form this gesture, simply raise your open hand straight up, keeping your elbow at your side or in front of you. You may choose to bow or do a mini-bow (head-nod) at the same time as you raise your hand.

We have also learned the "polite pointing" gesture, to indicate the person with whom you are talking. Keep your hand open and extend your arm out in front of you. Remember there is no need to over-extend your arm:

Source: tofugu.com/guides/japanese-body-language

Here are a few more to try:

1) To gesture for "Sorry" 「ごめん！」or "Please do me a favor"　「おねがい！」, use this two-handed gesture as demonstrated in the video below by Hiroko from Japanesepod101.com. NOTE: This gesture is for use with friends only as it uses casual forms of "Sorry" and "Please". Also, it is mainly a gesture used by women.

2) "Come here for a second" 「ちょっと！」, and "Come here" 「おいで！」use the palm-down beckoning gesture shown in this illustration and by Hiroko in video below:

「おいで、おいで！はやく！」

3) "Who, me?" 「わたし？」can be expressed without words by pointing to your nose with your pointer finger:

Source: Flickr ninhonbunka yasuko (CC non-commercial license)