Culture shock! Head size matters カルチャーショック・小顔 

Omg guys your comments are making me laugh so much, I'm so sorry for giving everyone complexes!! And I COMPLETELY forgot about the phrase "big head" meaning big ego! Whoops.

True story: The most creative way I've been "told" (aka overheard strangers walking by) that my head is small is when someone said 「十頭身じゃん」, which means "She looks like she's ten heads tall." If you're an artsy person, you'll know that a standard proportioned body is supposed to be 8 heads tall. Here in Japan apparently the idea of 8 heads tall being ideal is common knowledge for everyone, not just artists (according to Jun). Saying someone is 10 heads tall is saying they're either freakishly tall or have an extraordinarily small head.

Now I understand why Sakura from Naruto is getting teased by her big forehead / headsize

That moment when you measure your head for the first time in your life and feel an odd mix of pride because it's lower than the Japanese National Average and genuine confusion because it simultaneously doesn't matter to you.

EDIT: Finished!! :D Working on English subs now!

Jun is very tall for Japanese, so I don´t think his head that really big in proportion to his height.

Having a big head kinda sounds cute though. Like how children have big heads compared to their tiny bodies.

My wife calls me "wide face" or "big face" when she gets angry.

Wow Rachel D: I didn't think of that head, i thought of the metaphorical head, the ego..

61 cm. I'm never going to Japan :P

★Subtitles!★ *English* *Spanish (Mexico)* thanks to: Eduardo Lugo (GagaBabymetal) *German* thanks to: Britta Binder *French* thanks to: Gerbilx Ely *Russian* thanks to: Oli King *Italian* thanks to: Rosy Maida *Urdu* *Korean* thanks to: Jaehyun Lee *Polish* thanks to: Kamil *Slovak* *Dutch* thanks to: Goldilockslife *Chinese (Taiwan)* thanks to: likuanwei *Spanish* *Arabic* Want to help subtitle our videos? rachelandjun.blogspot.jp/2014/01/r-video-transcripts.html

“big head” refers to a large ego, not a large prIVaTE

I can relate to this on so many levels. When I was in Japan, my face was so small that I had to buy kids size masks. The "ladies size" masks were absolutely massive on me, they would just fall off. I never noticed Japanese people had big heads until my host mom pointed it out, and since then I do notice it, but of course as a foreigner I don't have any negative feelings towards it. I think it's really cute actually, especially on boys (I have a weakness for baby-faced boys hahaha). It's always nice to go somewhere and be told your features are attractive, especially when they're something you might have been insecure about before going (i.e tall nose bridge, pale skin, being super skinny). I can't say I care that I have an "attractive" head/face size in Japan now, but I've definitely learned to feel happy with the other things that I previously felt unattractive for (pale skin!)

YES! It happened to me too! I had friends say "Oh, kao ga chiisai", but in French "petite tête" (small head) means idiot, so I wasn't sure what they were trying to say, and I awkwardly looked at them. I had no idea it was a thing in Japan the first time I went. They also told me "hana ga takai" (you have a long nose), so in my head I was like "Are you calling me a stupid Pinocchio or something?"

"Did you care?" "No," "Really?" "Until I met you," 😆😆😆😆😆

“ i don’t really care” “untill i met you” OMG IM DYING

I just measured my head and it's 57cm. I don't know what to do with this information.

Then why do they give characters such big heads in manga?

Omg no, my head is 57cm and im a girl 😂😂 i never knew my head was that huge im like a chibi

Here in Vietnam people, especially the elders, think a bigger earlobe is better because they think people with big earlobe will be rich. My father are always asking why my earlobe is small.

in europe we sometimes say about ourselves or others they have a small head and it's not a compliment. rather it means you 're a bit scrawny looking, or birdish.

Oh my god the music that played when you guys compared head sizes, I died :') I love your videos so much, they're always so informative and entertaining!

you two are so cute omg

yea My head is 61cm hiss... *the sound of overinflated ego*

Male, 52-53 cm, single Edit: Still single Edit April 2021: Now engaged and soon to be happily married. Also gained some more height, 180cm.

外国人は頭ちっちゃくて背が高くて足も手も長いからすごい羨ましかった。だから典型的なアジア人体型の僕はすごいコンプレックスだった。本当に外人さんが気にしていないのならそれはよかった。ちょっと気が楽になりました。

Female with a 61 cm head. Get on my level, kids. XD

I love it when your videos have Jun in them. His English is amazing, and his expressions and reactions to what you say are really entertaining. You guys just seem to "fit". It adds a lot to the videos.

肘の例えが面白かったです。ＰＣの前で大笑いしちゃいました（笑） 私も頭のサイズがレイチェルさんと同じ５２㎝なんです（身長は１６０㎝ですが） 日本では、ちょうど良いサイズの帽子を探すのに苦労してます。 昔は小顔が魅力的っていう認識は無かったんですよ。私、化粧品関係の仕事をしてたんですが、それで日本の美人や化粧の変遷の歴史に興味があって調べたことがあるんです。 昔の日本人は着物を着てましたから、美の基準は、ほぼ首から上に限定されてたんです。まあ、手とか、ちらりと見える足首なんていうのも魅力の一つではありましたけど、だいたいは身体とのバランスは関係なく、顔が美しいとか、肌が色白であるとか、髪の毛が黒々として豊かであるとか、額の生え際の形とかが美しさの基準でした。 ところが幕末、明治以降に西洋文化が入ってきて、だんだんと洋服を着るようになり、全体のバランスも見るようになったんです。そして顔（頭）が小さいほうがカッコよくドレスやスーツが着こなせてる！ということに気が付いたんですね（笑）それで、いつの間にか美の基準に顔の小ささが追加されたわけです。 ちなみに１９５０年代にカリフォルニアで開催されたミスユニバースで３位に入賞した伊藤絹子さんというモデル出身の女性はスタイルが良く顔が小さかったので、当時『八頭身美人』という言葉が流行しました。これ以降、ますます一般に小顔が美の基準として浸透したようです。

Human always going in the opposite direction, in Japan, where most of the people has a more larger face, they tend to like small faces? Oh humanity!

"Are you indirectly offending me?"😂😂😂

What was really funny when i went to Japan last year was that in Kyoto I got soo many more people staring at me than in Tokyo (btw i'm a 6'1 Australian female...soooo kinda a bit tall XD) because i was with my family i guess the people in Tokyo just were like "oh yeah another western family" but in Kyoto so many people stopped me and were like "ohhh so tall" "do you play basketball?" ect. I was expecting to be looked at cause even at home people stare at me but it was kinda of funny that people in Tokyo stared more at my mum with blonde hair than me, 6'1 with light brown hair. Though everyone was really nice and respectful unlike some cases at home were i've had people tell me i shouldn't wear heels because it was "unfair" for the shorter girls or people stare and giggle with their friends. *Sigh* SO end of story time XDDD just thought i would share that cause this video reminded me so much of my trip :)

Hehehehe. Head size. One more weird insecurity to have~ I have chubby cheeks - which I always thought were adorable. But, like, I don't know anymore.

My elbows are so pointy! I'm so embarrassed 😖

you two are so cute together. cuteeee omg

Gee, thanks guys. I measured my head and it was 58cm, this has never been an issue for me in my whole life... until now :(

You guys are so cute together! Jun all embarrassed of his head size when he met you :3

I think head size matters in the western world as well. It's just that in most asian countries they're focused on the width of the face whereas in america/europe we pay more attention to the length of the face. The equivalent of having a 'big head' here would be having a long face, which is generally considered to be an unattractive feature (especially in women).

I am japanese but born in Brazil. I´ve always been embarrassed about my head size not because I learned this from Japan, but because you can REALLY NOTICE it in the pictures with other people!!! I always try to be a little bit behind in a group picture. Trying to find the best haircut to make my head more discreet. Also, people have commented already about my head size in Brazil and I ended up feeling really bad about it. It´s something impossible to change about myself.

My wife is American, so we had this conversastion before :> I think we said we had a lot more flat headed people in Japan (as people sleep on the floor with futon and the back of their head becomes flat). I personaly have a ginormous head and the back of my head is not flat.

I had this problem when I was in Japan because my face is quite small so girlfriends would be embarrassed to take photos with me or they would always stand behind me when taking photos. Now that I think about it, it was quite rare to see a Japanese person with a small head/face.

AHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD, "Pointy elbow's 7/10 would not bang"

3:40 "i only cared, till i met you" lmao im dying of laughter.

The most attractive about you guys is that you laugh and obviously love humor.

Kogao, ne!! Similarly, I was shocked to learn that a tall/big nose is considered a compliment in Chinese... hmm... ( ｀_ゝ´)ﾑｯ

I heard that most East Asians dont care about teeth and thing Westerners/Europeans are like, weirdly obsessed with them...? I guess thats something but I'm not sure if I'm right..

OMG my head is the size of Jun's xD I was laughing the entire time I was measuring it. I'm a short person with a big head.

I enjoy the way you explain things and Jun is so handsome :D

4:17 that dramatic effect killed me hahahaha

I think for models it's because the smaller your head is, the better the proportions are? Like the smaller your head is, the smaller the head-to-body ratio.

You two are hysterical. I laugh so hard watching your videos! The stuff people come up with to compare with other human beings, let alone other cultures is amazing. :)

レイチェルさんの例えがめっちゃ面白いですwwwそしてすごく分かりやすかったです😂

You guys are such a cute couple.

Hahaha, I never ever knew about the tiny head/face thing! As an American, I love watching your videos, learning about the Japanese culture and you are both just the cutest, may you have a long, happy, and loving marriage :)

You guys are so adorable. I'm trying to learn Japanese on my own because I can't attend a school at the moment, I am violently allergic to sunlight and bright lights like in a classroom, so it makes things difficult. I want to translate my book into Japanese and other languages some day.

Oh my gosh Jun and I have the same head size! I've literally never thought of measuring my head until now

I thought I had a small head... then I measured and it's 56.5cm 😂😂😂

My head size is 64.5 cm, I'm hideous! 😭. If I got one of those shirts that say, "I'm big in Japan", it would mean literally! I have pointy elbows too!!!

I like your elbow analogy! :-D

Your elbow analogy observation is spot on.

国が違うと何をコンプレックスに思うか全然違うのねぇ

I saw a couple of charts indicating the median (50th percentile) for japanese males is around 57.3cm and for females is 55.5cm, a bit above the american size. Anyway, great vid, guys, just became a follower recently and I'm loving your channel

Omg you guys are so cute together ❤️

Thank you! You make great Videos!!

Is that why anime characters have large heads? Because they're supposed to be Japanese? xD But then again they do have large eyes :p

This Made Me Think About George Lopez Would Have Hard Time.

Too much cuteness in this video,i kinda envy to you guys..😂

動画関係ないけど個人的にjunさんの声めっちゃ好き。

I've always thought my head was tiny in proportion to my body but turns out it's 55.5cm? (australian female, 170ish cm tall)

日本人が気にするのは、正面から見たときの顔の大きさだよね...

Aww you guys are really cute together:)

You guys are both super beautiful! Jun, your face really is gorgeous just as it is. :)

Its a common thing in South Korea as well

there is not only the size of the head , there is the form too (sorry for my english i m french)

So funny you brought this up. I can totally relate because the first thing I was told when I got to Japan was I have a small head. And to be honest I had no idea how to take that. Haha I was like "thank you? is that a good thing?"

.....You two are so adorable, I need to pause the video and take a moment so I'll not explode from overload of cuteness. Also my head is about 52ish. I think it's smaller because my hair volume kinda get in the way, but eh

American beauty standards change to much for us to have something like that. Like over 60s years we went form liking pale and curvy, to pale and skinny, to tan and skinny and now we want tan and curvy.

This applies to a lot of Asians actually! You can even recognize them from behind from the size of their head. That's how I always find my mom in European shopping malls and vice versa

Jun is like every other guy. He rounds it up to the higher denominator. 🤣

Oh my gosh, I love your elbow example LOL too funny

HAHAHA oh my gosh! When my Husband and I were first dating he told me my head was small and I thought he was complaining about my head size. At the time we were only dating for about 2 weeks so I didn't tell him that he hurt my feelings. About 2 months later we got into our first fight and I brought it up and he just starts laughing which made me even more mad, then he says "babe that's a good thing in Asian culture." I looked at him for a few seconds and then we both just laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a good way to stop a fight! Lol

In Scotland, if someone says “you’re big headed” it usually means they think you are arrogant or conceited.

Everyone is beautiful no matter how they look. By the way I'm dying in laughter when you both comparing your head size.

Thank you guys 💖🌹🌞..very intresting. .. I have never even though such a thing exist .. lol 🌼🌹 U both a soooo adorable 💖

.... I really don't know how I feel about this. I mean, as long as you don't look like a cartoon character who has had their head shrunk/enlarged by some sort of evil genius's ray gun, I think you're probably okay. And hey, on the bright side, if you have a bigger head, you have a clear advantage in head butting. Because if you can't join 'em, beat them with your superior cranial surface area.... that's how that sayin goes, right?

『肘』の例えは面白いですね。外国人から見たら、いかに奇妙な価値観かが一発で理解できました。なぜ日本の女性がそこにこだわるのかが理解できません。おそらく、『顔（頭）が小さいと、頭身が高くなって、全身のプロポーションが良く見える』とか、そういう理由だと思いますが、男の視点から見ると、別に顔が小さいからカワイイとは思いません。私自身も、他人の顔の大きさを気にした事はありません。「他に重要な事がいくらでもあるだろう」と思ってしまいます。最後に、「JUNさんは身長が大きいんだから、その分頭が大きいのは当たり前でしょ！」（ツッコミ）

海外に住んでて、頭のサイズ本当に大きくて気にしてたけどそんなに気にすることないんだって思えました！ありがとうございます😭

You two are honestly probably the cutest couple in the world!!!! I also got super curious and had to pause the video to measure my head it was 53cm

that is pretty interesting because there is a thing called "kindchenschema" what means, that the size of the head and eyes are bigger that the norm compared to the body and is likely to be found more adorable and cute. It refers to the infantile physical features of babies and young children that trigger the protection mode in us. It is pretty common here in europe to find those features pretty lovely especially when it comes to women. I think Germany is one of the countries where really many men find the cute little asian women with their "embarassing" big heads super attractive. The tinier the head the more mature you look. youth and cuteness are pretty attractive i guess ^^ so keep your big heads japan! ;)

What's so weird to me is that in my family personally, large heads have always been thought of as attractive, having a high forehead or large head overall has always been seen as a sign of intelligence. And so for me I think Jun's head size is attractive. Not saying having a big head necessarily makes one intelligent, but it's something I grew up with. 😂

I know theyre talking a different topic but i just almost cried "Did you ever care?" "Until i met you" Oh my ghad

I’ve always thought about how my head is so big comparing to my body. Now I know it’s not just me.😂

Korea has a HUGE obsession with small heads too, and it confused the hell out of me when I first arrived when people would say "Ohh, you have such a small head--like an apple!" ._. To this day I still can't quite get used to this ~head size stuff, haha--thanks for doing a video on this!

BAHAHAHAHAH finally someone else understands! Everytime I have been to Japan my friends always grab my face and say "your face is so small!"

I never knew about the head size = beauty thing in japan, but my biggest culture shock while there was learning what “double eyelids” were. I had been walking into school with my newly made Japanese friends and suddenly one of the girls stopped and gasped looking at my face. I asked what was wrong, thinking I had something on my face, and she exclaimed “you have a double eyelid!” all excited. I had no idea what she was talking about at first, but then realized double eyelids and light eyes were a beauty standard for Japanese people.

its all about the construction of the head, I think this used to be one of the things they mark you on at the very early days of American pigeon beauty contest thing

Head size is a thing in the US, too. Not as crazy as it is in Japan, but if you have a big head then you'll likely be made fun of for it. Like being called "fat head" and stuff.

元々背が低い分、顔が大きいと余計に頭デッカチに見えてしまうからという理由もあると思います！私は自分の全体写真の頭身を測るのが怖くてできません😅 背が高くて顔が小さい方…憧れます😭😭 ですがお2人が気にならないと言っていて少し安心しました！😊😊

I think attraction is so personal. People have types and end up with something totally different, because attraction is 90% about being sure of yourself with a good personality.

He's so cute!!!