Scary rules of Japanese gangster hiding behind finger-tapping action

When I was a kid, everyone would have stuck their fingers when they wanted someone to promise to do something. But the true origin of this action is not so cute.

When I was young, everyone must have brushed a friend's hand when we promised each other something.

But where did that action come from, or why did we do that?

As a kid, everyone used to do this, right?

To find the answer, let's first find out who were the first to use this gesture to represent a promise.

Scary rules of ancient Japanese gangster

Today, the hand is understood as a mark for a very intimate promise, among friends. However, the true origin of this action stems from a rule of Japanese gangsters from the Edo period (1603-1868). At that time, this pinch is somewhat scary, not as we think now.

Photograph of a former Japanese gangster.

These organizations have an unwritten rule that is loyalty and trust are the top two qualities that every member must have. The reason is because when performing any task it takes many people, each taking on one stage. As long as any member neglects or betrays the gang, it means a link of the entire system will be broken and the whole mission will fail.

To avoid this possibility, these organizations have always imposed strict penalties for violators. And the extremely familiar type of punishment: cutting off a part of the "destructive" body.

A painful punishment is always the best binding.

What does this have to do with scratching?

But there is it. When there is a mission, or when there is a contract between two members, they will promise to do it.

They stuck their little fingers together and read the oath: "If a person lies, he will be cut off his little finger, beaten ten thousand times and have to swallow a thousand needles". This is an oath that no one has the right to break or reverse it.

If you do not make a promise, the offender's little finger will be cut down for any reason.

If you do not make a promise, it is obvious that the violator's little finger will be cut off for any reason. The loser promised to force himself to cut, or the other person would do it for them - there was no way to avoid bloodshed.

This is also one reason why most Japanese gangsters have shorter fingers than usual, or are completely cut off.

Today, waving his hand is understood as a mark for a very intimate promise between two friends.

Later on, somehow, Japanese children have turned this frightening punishment into a very cute job as we have seen now.

After that, through communication and cultural exchange between Japan and the world, tapping fingers also became a symbolic behavior for the promise that could not be broken.