In Japan, a hand gesture with index and little finger raised, and ring and middle finger bent, pushed forward together with the thumb, is a "fox sign," kitsune sain キツネサイン, as it imitates a "fox," kitsune 狐. It's also known by the katakanization fokkusu sain フォックスサイン.
Anime: Slow Start (Episode 7)
Usage
Puppetry
The fox sign is often used like a sock puppet, except without the sock, so a (literal) hand puppet, I guess. This hand shape is also used to make the image of a fox in shadow puppetry.
- Context: Carol Olston キャロル・オルストン plays with Aizawa Tomo 相沢智.
- konkon
コンコン
*the sound foxes make* - gabuu
カブー
*sound effect for biting* - kyaa
キャー
*shriek*
Mouth
One can move the ring and middle finger away from the thumb to "open" the fox's mouth, making the hand puppet talk.
Anime: Ninja Slayer From Animation, ンジャスレイヤー フロムアニメイシヨン (Episode 22)
- Context: Nancy Lee makes the fox hand puppet talk together with her as she says she has copied data.
Anime: Slow Start (Episode 7)
- Context: a fox sign being used to imitate a dog.
- What sort of blasphemy is this?
- wan
わん
*woof*
Kissing
Sometimes, someone makes two fox signs, one with each hand, and makes them kiss each other by touching noses
Anime: ZOMBIE-LOAN, ゾンビローン (Episode 3)
- Context: afterwards, Yuuta uses ventriloquism to make one fox complain about the other fox kissing it.
- chuu
ちゅう
*sound effect for kiss.*
Anime: Munou na Nana 無能なナナ (Episode 5)
- Context: Tsunekichi makes two foxes kiss as he says that he doesn't have a girlfriend.
Japanese Sign Language
In Japanese "Sign Language," (JSL), shuwa 手話, the fox sign means the syllable ki き.(nhk.or.jp)
See also: kana 仮名.
Kiss
In JSL, making a gesture with two fox signs touching noses means the word "kiss."
Greeting
Sometimes, a fox sign is used to greet or say goodbye, just like other hand gestures, such as opening your hand to say hello, or waving it to say bye.
Right: Shimizu Raimei 清水雷鳴
Anime: Nabari no Ou 隠の王 (Episode 12)
- Context: Miharu and Raimei make fox signs to each other as they say goodbye.
Meaningless
In some cases, the sign doesn't mean anything, and it's just someone fooling around, or making a cute pose with random hand gestures like a peace sign.
Right: Minakami Mai 水上麻衣
Anime: Nichijou 日常 (Episode 17)
- Context: Mai raises her hand in class to tell the teacher she wants to read a passage of a book, except she makes a fox sign for no reason.
Because Fox
Sometimes, a fox sign is done by a fox girl with fox ears and fox tail because they're a fox, and that's about it.
Right: Lico, リコ
Anime: Machikado Mazoku: 2-choume まちカドまぞく ２丁目 (Season 2) (Episode 4)
vs. Schweigefuchs
In German, the schweigefuchs, literally "silent fox," is a hand sign used to tell children in kindergarten to be quiet.(english.best) It's also called leisefuchs, "quiet fox."(de.wikipedia.org) This sign looks just like that Japanese kitsune sign, however it doesn't seem to carry the same connotations: one doesn't use the kitsune sign in Japanese to tell someone to close their mouths the way they do in German.
Disambiguation
The fox sign is easily mistaken with the corna コルナ, which is that sign associated with rock 'n' roll. The corna typically presses the ring and middle finger against the palm with the thumb, while the fox sign places the thumb underneath pushing the fingers forward to make the fox's muzzle.
Anime: En'en no Shouboutai 炎炎ノ消防隊 (Episode 18)
- Context: these are horns, not foxes.
Anime: SHOW BY ROCK!! Mashumairesh!!, ましゅまいれっしゅ！！ (Episode 1)
- Context: a fox girl with fox ears making fox signs, not corna signs.
References
- 指文字一覧 - nhk.or.jp, accessed 2021-05-11.
- What is Schweigefuchs in English? - forum.english.best, accessed 2022-05-16.
- Leisefuchs - de.wikipedia.org, accessed 2022-05-16.
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