Henohenomoheji
Encyclopedia
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
characters.
The word breaks down into the seven hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
characters: he (へ), no (の), he (へ), no (の), mo (も), he (へ), and ji (じ). The first two he are the eyebrow
Eyebrow
The eyebrow is an area of thick, delicate hairs above the eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the brow ridges of some mammals. Their main function is to prevent sweat, water, and other debris from falling down into the eye socket, but they are also important to human communication and...
s, the two no are the eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
s, the mo is a nose
Human nose
The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils...
, and the last he is the mouth
Mouth
The mouth is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food andsaliva. The oral mucosa is the mucous membrane epithelium lining the inside of the mouth....
. The outline of the face is made by the character ji, its two short strokes (dakuten
Dakuten
, colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should...
) forming the ear
Ear
The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....
. Children use the henohenomoheji as the faces of kakashi (scarecrow
Scarecrow
A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
s).
This icon has been likened culturally
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
's popular graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
doodle of "Kilroy
Kilroy was here
Kilroy was here is an American popular culture expression, often seen in graffiti. Its origins are debated, but the phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle—a bald-headed man with a prominent nose peeking over a wall with the fingers of each hand clutching the wall—is widely known among U.S...
" (or in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
"Chad", in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
"Clem," and in Australia "Mr. Foo
Foo was here
"Foo was here" is an Australian graffiti signature of popular culture, especially known for its use during World War II, but also became popular amongst Australian schoolchildren of post-war generations....
"), in that it often appears in comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, movies and other media.
Variations
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
, report that they were not taught to draw the ji, and thus left the face unframed, as in the henohenomohe shown at right.
Other people from the same epoch but from other towns in São Paulo report that they learned to draw a big no around the face, instead of the ji (not shown).
Others have drawn the henohenomoheji with an extra i (い) at the end, which is drawn under the ji to form a neck or an ear.
Usage examples
- In the opening sequence of the 1967 TV dramaJapanese television drama, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...
Comet San, the main character (played by Yumiko KokonoeYumiko KokonoeYumiko Kokonoe is a Japanese actress and singer. She is the protagonist of the series Comet San filmed by Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation . 79 episodes of Comet San were produced during 1967 and 1968 by TBS....
) uses her magic to draw a henohenomohe on the surface of the moon. - In NarutoNarutois an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
, the face of the character Kakashi HatakeKakashi Hatakeis a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto originally planned to introduce Kakashi in the manga to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, early on, but pushed back this meeting so that Naruto's teammates could be better developed.In...
, whose given name Kakashi means "scarecrow", is the subject of an entire episode (no. 101) in which his students try to remove his mask. Against one of them he uses a scarecrow as a decoy, with the henohenomoheji drawn on the face. Later he summons eight dogs which have the henohenomoheji on their backs. - In the anime One PieceOne Pieceis a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
, Igaram makes dummies with the henohenomoheji face to impersonate Luffy, Zoro, and Nami. - In the MSXMSXMSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
game ParodiusParodius, or just Parodius, is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami for the MSX computer and was released in Japan. The game is notable for being the first title in the Parodius series, although it is often confused with its sequel Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ in that respect, which...
, one of the bosses is based on this. - In the Sega Genesis game Crusader of CentyCrusader of CentyCrusader of Centy is an action RPG game that was released on the Mega Drive/Genesis. The story centers on Corona, a boy who has just turned 14 years of age. It is time for him to inherit his father's sword and fight the "monsters" that threaten the human race's very existence, attaining animals...
, a puppet controlled by a boss has this for a face. - Henohenomoheji has been drawn twice by schoolchildren on Ojamajo Doremi.
On the 15th episode of Ojamajo Doremi #, Masaru Yada painted a large henohenomoheji on a piece of paper with red paint when he was meant to paint a portrait of his mother.
On the 15th episode of Motto Ojamajo Doremi, Hesebe drew a henohenomoheji on a piece of paper with red crayon when he was meant to draw a portrait of his mother.
- In DigimonDigimon, short for , is a Japanese media franchise encompassing digital toys, anime, manga and video games. The franchise's eponymous creatures are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World", a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.-Conception and...
, the Digimon Nohemon, a scarecrow Digimon, has henohenomoheji on its face. - In the Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
game Animal Crossing: Wild WorldAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldis a 2005 social simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console, and is the second game in the Animal Crossing series....
, the visitor Blanca's face is that of a henohenomoheji, and can be altered to the player's own design. - In the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game ŌkamiOkamiis an action-adventure video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for Sony's PlayStation 2 video game console in 2006 in Japan and North America, and 2007 in Europe and Australia...
, characters are represented with a henohenomoheji icon floating above their heads whenever they are too far to be seen. - In the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
video game Chulip, the generic factory workers all have henohenomohe faces. - In The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, a brief scene in episode 11 ("The Day of Sagittarius") showed Koizumi's fleet with a crew full of henohenomoheji.
- In the manga Ranma ½Ranma ½is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi with an anime adaptation. The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts...
, the title character Ranma Saotome often wears the henohenomoheji face. - Japanese manga artistMangakais the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
Yuu WataseYuu Wataseis a female Japanese shōjo manga artist. She received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend in 1997. Since writing her debut short story "Pajama de Ojama" , Watase has created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series...
is often portrayed in a henohenomoheji mask. - In the anime Mononoke, the Medicine Seller briefly wears a henohenomoheji on his blank face during the Noppera-bō arc before restoring his own.
- In the anime Samurai ChamplooSamurai Champloois a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo has earned Watanabe a renowned title in the anime and Japanese television communities...
, the baseball catcher doll in episode 23 "Baseball Blues" has a henohenomeheji on its face. At the beginning of episode 11, "Gamblers and Gallantry", henohenomeheji appears as the face of a doll hanging before Fuu. - In the video game TerranigmaTerranigmaTerranigma, known as in Japan, is a 1995 action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Quintet. It was published by Enix in Japan before Nintendo localized the game and released an English version in Europe and Australia. The game was never officially released...
, in Matis's final gallery, he features a henohenomoheji. - In episode 3 of the anime HyakkoHyakkois a Japanese manga created by Haruaki Katō. It started serialization on Flex Comix's free web comic FlexComix Blood on January 16, 2007. An anime adaptation produced by Nippon Animation was first aired in October 2008 in Japan...
, a slightly different henohenomoheji can be seen drawn on a cardboard box: it has no ji, a shi for its nose and another shi for its ear, which reads out "henohenoshiheshi". Later on in the same episode, a more classical version can be seen painted on a robot's face, with only the eyes and the nose (henohenomo) and a speaker for its mouth. - In the anime "Toradora", Ryūji is seen hanging a home-made henohenomoheji out of cloth.
- In chapter 25 of the anime Demashita! Powerpuff Girls ZDemashita! Powerpuff Girls ZPowerpuff Girls Z, known in Japan as or PPGZ for short, is a magical girl anime series based on the American animated television series The Powerpuff Girls. The anime is co-produced by Cartoon Network Japan and Aniplex and was animated by Toei Animation, featuring character design by Miho Shimogasa...
the monster Penna draws the Henohenomoheji on every wall in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. - In the anime B Gata H KeiB Gata H Keiis a four-panel manga series published by Shueisha which was adapted into an anime series. The story focuses on the salacious wishes of a high school girl, whose perceived drawback of being a virgin leads her to lusting and pursuing a rather average and unremarkable boy in her class.Outside of...
, Yamada don't remember Kosuda's face so they show it as Henohenomoheji. - In episode 41 of the anime version of Soul EaterSoul Eater (manga)is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Ōkubo. Set at the "Death Weapon Meister Academy," the series revolves around three teams consisting of a weapon meister and human weapon...
, Through a hallucination a fake version of the character Marie is seen with a Henohenomohe in place of her face as she helps in further terrorizing Professor Stein.