A picture is worth a thousand words. That’s perhaps why instead of writing letters or spending hours chatting on the phone, people are gravitating towards “keeping in touch” through sharing photos on social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. With these services, you’re not just keeping in touch with your friends and family, you’re keeping in touch with the latest photo trends.
If you’re one of those photo trend followers, then you have to master the art of posing like an obasan (which literally means “aunt” in Japanese but also refers to middle-aged women in general), otherwise known as the obashot (short for obasan shot), because that’s what’s trending among Japanese Twitter users now. And also because it’s funny.
With the use of hashtags, many photo trends spread like wildfire across the Internet, then fade into the abyss of cyberspace just as quickly as they came. However the obashot, a photo taken in a pose mimicking some of the common poses done by obasans in Japan, took its own sweet time climbing the trending list on Twitter because the man who started it, 40-year-old Japanese comedian Hiroiki Ariyoshi (@ariyoshihiroiki), isn’t hip enough to use hashtags.
So how exactly do you pose like a Japanese obasan? According to a survey by goo Ranking, these are the Top 10 poses the middle-aged women of Japan are usually caught posing in, and as expected of the true obashot master, Ariyoshi has posed (or made someone pose) in almost all the poses!
9th (tied) – Placing your hand on a friend’s shoulder
オバショット。
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) January 10, 2015
みんな基本的なオバ度がアップしてきている。柔和なおばさん。。。
世界中の人がみーんなおばさんになーれ!! pic.twitter.com/opJflNVWwd
9th (tied) – Placing a hand on your cheek trying to look bashful
オバショット。
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) December 30, 2014
お肌の調子が悪いのよーと恥ずかしそうな上島おばさん。。。 pic.twitter.com/rTBaJyrxIg
8th – Posing with a cat in your lap
Unfortunately, the obashot master missed this one. About time that man got himself a cat, geez.
7th – Crossing your hands at a low position in front of you
2015初のオバショット。
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) January 6, 2015
完璧な佇まい。
有吉おばさんは完全なおばさん。。。 pic.twitter.com/w6gYljC4wB
5th (tied) – Doing a “peace” sign but far away from your face
Many Japanese girls do the peace sign right next to their faces because it hides the side of their face, creating the illusion of a smaller/slimmer face. It seems like the obasans have yet to realize that, and Ariyoshi has yet to realize that the obasans have yet to realize that. So complex, we know.
5th (tied) – Acting all prim and classy with a subtle smile
オバショット。
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) March 3, 2015
有吉おばさん初のスカイツリーで、嬉し恥ずかし緊張のおすまし笑顔。。。 pic.twitter.com/3WG8Pqod3E
4th – Posing with a statue
オバショット。
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) January 13, 2015
平清盛に寄り添う有吉おばさん。
気分はすっかり妻かしら。。。 pic.twitter.com/oWmJYy0kCG
3rd – Posing with a stalk of flower in hand
We couldn’t find a picture of Ariyoshi posing with one flower, but we found him with his “obasan” friends posing with a truckload of flowers. The more the merrier!
久々の『オバショット』
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) November 30, 2014
有吉おばさん、大木おばさん、田中おばさん。素敵なお花の前でパシャり。
オバショットとは、観光地などで写真を撮るときのオバ様の雰囲気を模倣した写真のことです。。。 pic.twitter.com/SzZ15HzqpA
2nd – Sit slanted
新婚旅行のバリ島で
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) December 2, 2014
旦那様の要求に応えて可愛いポーズをとる有吉おばさん
気分はすっかり女優さん。。。 pic.twitter.com/CFf4cWQno1
1st – Bringing your shoulder bag to the front of your body and posing with both your hands on it
Not quite exactly it, but this amateur “obasan” has it close enough.
オバショット。六本木の平子おばさん。。。 pic.twitter.com/t3WNt5UPn8
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) December 14, 2013
▼ Check out some of these trendy people who have hopped on the obashot bandwagon!
@ariyoshihiroiki ディズニーでオバショットとりました。評価お願いします pic.twitter.com/7MQw3NN2MW
— かまり (@0712Rina) February 26, 2015
何人か素質のあるメンバーがいらっしゃいますね。今後に期待します。 RT @kusa_rina こちらは、どうですか? http://t.co/wC2JX93lhy
— 有吉弘行 (@ariyoshihiroiki) January 21, 2015
@ariyoshihiroiki 香川でオバショットさせていただきました。有吉さん、ぜひ採点お願いします! pic.twitter.com/kPIEOjsZBk
— にしはらみ (@nishiharami) March 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/LvRyj/status/566024187035140096
https://twitter.com/Zeeton0/status/588895852283895808
https://twitter.com/akariiwaaa/status/584905948256403456
Ariyoshi, who presently has among the most followers on Twitter in Japan, coined the term obashot and started making these obashot posts a couple of years back. However, his obashot posts were made sparsely, perhaps only when he felt inspired to do one, which is perhaps another reason why the obashot trend didn’t catch on until recent months.
Have your grasped the crux of creating a convincing obashot? Or perhaps you’ve been subconsciously posing like a Japanese obasan all along? If you have, well, you’re trendy now!
Source: Zhaizhai News
Reference: goo Ranking
Images: Twitter (@ariyoshihiroiki)
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