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Rock-Paper-Scissors, or Paper-Rock-Scissors, (also known as jan-ken-pon, rochambeau and many other terms^[1]) is a two-person hand game.

The game is often used as a selection method in a similar way to coin flipping, drawing straws, or throwing dice to randomly select a person for some purpose. However, unlike truly random selections, it can be played with skill, if the game extends over many sessions, as a player can often recognize and exploit the non-random behavior of an opponent.

[edit] Game play

Each of the three basic hand-signs (from left to right: rock, paper, and scissors) beats one of the other two, and loses to the other.

The players both count aloud to three, or speak the name of the game (e.g. "Rock! Paper! Scissors!" or "Ro! Cham! Beau!"), each time raising one hand in a fist and swinging it down on the count. On the third count (saying "scissors!" or "Beau!" ), the players change their hands into one of three gestures, which they then "throw" by extending it towards their opponent. A variation on this version involves a fourth count—"SHOOT"—before players throw their gesture, or shake their hands two times before throwing.

• Rock (ぐう, gū^?), represented by a clenched fist.
• Scissors (ちょき, choki^?), represented by the index and middle fingers extended and separated.
• Paper (ぱあ, pā^?), represented by an open hand, with the fingers connected (horizontal).

The objective is to select a gesture which defeats that of the opponent. Gestures are resolved as follows:

• Rock blunts or breaks scissors: rock wins.
• Scissors cut paper: scissors win.
• Paper covers or captures rock: paper wins.

If both players choose the same gesture, the game is tied and the players throw again. If the gestures chosen on each throw were truly random, the average number of throws required to decide a winner would be 1.5.^[2]

[edit] History

Rock paper scissors was invented in Japan in the late 19th century and acquired popularity worldwide throughout the 20th century. Jan-ken-pon (じゃんけんぽん^?), or more commonly janken (じゃんけん^?), often transliterated in other ways such as jankenpoi, janken-po, etc., sometimes called rock ken (石拳, ishiken^?), and known as rock-paper-scissors in the English-speaking world. The origin or the derivation of the name is unknown. ken (拳, ken^?) is a fist in Japanese and Jan-ken-po is categorized as a "ken (fist) games" (拳遊び, ken asobi^?).

Look up じゃんけん in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Janken is believed to have been based on two older ken games, sū ken (数拳, number competing game with fingers) and san sukumi ken (三すくみ拳, san sukumi means the freezing aspects of a snake, frog, and slug with fear). San sukumi ken has existed in Japan since ancient times, and sū ken was imported from China in the late 17th century; the name in China of sū ken is shǒushìlìng (手勢令). Ken games began to increase in popularity in the middle of the 19th century. Janken is believed to have been invented in the late 19th century, judging from textual sources of the time about ken games.

[edit] Variations

Players have developed numerous cultural and personal variations on the game, from simply playing the same game with different objects, to expanding into more weapons and rules.

• In some variations of the game, the winner of each round mimes the action of their chosen weapon on the opponent's gesture (such as using the fingers of the scissor gesture to "cut" their opponent's outstretched hand), to demonstrate that they have won.^{[citation needed]}
• Rock-paper-scissors is frequently played in a "best two out of three" match, and in many cases psych-outs, shouting, and trick gestures are performed to confuse or trick the other player into throwing an illegal toss resulting in a loss. Some players prefer to shout the name of a throw they do not intend to throw in order to misdirect and confuse their opponent. It generally applies that what is thrown, is what is officially counted in the match. For instance, yelling Scissors or Paper, and actually throwing Rock. The rock is what is judged and tallied. During tournaments, players often prepare their sequence of three gestures prior to the a tournaments commencement.^[3][4]
• In some versions of the game, a second round of play is used. After one player has won the paper/scissors/stone game, another count of three is conducted with the phrase "Acchi mite (muite) hoi!" (あっち見て(向いて)ホイ！^?, "Hey, look [turn] over there!"). On "hoi!", the player who won previously points in one of four directions (up, down, left, or right), and the player who lost previously tilts their head to look in one of those directions. If both directions are the same, the game is over, and the player pointing is declared the final winner; if the directions are not the same, the game reverts back to the original jan ken pon and the original winner's win is canceled.^{[citation needed]}
• A further variant makes use of the rhythmic nature of the phrases and counts of three; every time a round is played, the tempo of the game is increased slightly. If a player loses tempo, they lose. It is quite easy for a long sequence of draws, or of fails to guess correctly in the second round, to result in the game reaching breakneck speed.^{[citation needed]}
• Many examples of on-line and stand-alone versions of this game, written in Flash, Java, JavaScript, etc. can be found on the internet.^{[citation needed]}
• In the Philippines, a variation called jack en poy is used. This was introduced most likely during the Japanese occupation during World War II. The complete chant in Tagalog is Jack en poy, hali hali hoy, sino ang matalo, siya ang unggoy! ("Jack en ('n or and) poy, hali hali hoy, the one who loses is a monkey!"). Another variation is called bato bato pik! or simply pik.^{[citation needed]}
• In Hawaii, janken-pon is known jan-ken-po with the n removed from Pon. The same result is seen in Peru where it is called yan-kem-po; the "n" from "ken" being interchangeable with "m" due to a grammatic rule in Spanish of using "m" rather than "n" before any "p" of the same word^{[citation needed]} (yankempo and yan-ken-po spellings are also attested).^{[citation needed]}
• In Brazil, the name was made into joquenpo or joquempo. Children often add a vast variety of additional "weapons" which are used to beat more than one sign. The most common ones are the "flame" (thumb up, beats paper and scissors) and rain (fingers down, beats flame, paper and scissors). There are sometimes others, often made up on the spot.^{[citation needed]}
• In Indonesia, particularly Central Java, children play a variation that has the same rules but entirely different weapons and gestures. As in the Japanese rock-paper-scissors game, they say jan-ken-pon while pumping the fist before selecting a weapon. An extended thumb is called "elephant", an extended forefinger is called "human being", and an extended little finger is called "ant". Elephant crushes human, human crushes ant, and ant kills elephant by entering its trunk.^{[citation needed]}
• A variation found in Indonesia is composed of an earwig, a human, and an elephant. The earwig is able to climb into the elephant's ear and drive it insane, while the human crushes the earwig and the elephant crushes the human.^[5]
• The popular television series That '70s Show mentions a nuclear war-like version. The cockroach survives the nuclear bomb, the nuclear bomb destroys the foot (or human as it may apply), and the foot/human crushes the cockroach.^{[citation needed]}
• The Discovery Kids television series Endurance uses an elimination scheme that involves wood, water, and fire. The operating premise is that fire "burns", and therefore defeats wood; wood "floats on" and defeats water; and water extinguishes fire.^{[citation needed]}
• The Japanese variant, Gū pā janken, was designed as a way for multiple people to play with a clear victor (or victors) resulting. This form of janken only uses the gū (rock) and pā (paper) hand formations. The victors in gū pā janken are those who played the hand sign which outnumbers the other hand sign (the original meanings/values of gū and pā have no meaning in this variation). The game may also be played with those in the minority being the victors; whether to play majority-wins or minority-wins is decided before beginning the game. Successive games of gū pā janken are then played among the victors, with number participating in each game decreasing each time due to the losers being eliminated. When the number of players is reduced to two, they then play janken to determine a winner (if the number of players had been reduced to one by playing gū pā janken, then that one person would be the overall victor). Janken is rarely played in a standard tournament form because gū pā janken can be used instead. Whereas normal games are played with the well-known chant "Jan-ken-pon!", gū/pā janken can be accompanied by a different chant, the most widely used being Gū to pā de wakarimasho (ぐうとぱあで分かりましょう^?). (Lit. Let's divide with gū and pā) The rhythm of the chant is similar to ""Jan-ken-pon!", with the players pumping their fists three times for the first stanza, two more times for the next, drawing a play at "sho!" (Note: In the Kansai region, the chant is more likely to be Gū ton pā de gū ton pā (ぐうとんぱあでぐうとんぱあ^?), following the same basic rules as above.)^{[citation needed]} This variant is known in Hawaii as Odd man out or Odd man safe, depending on whether the majority or minority wins.
• Kuma ken is a kind of sū ken. It is played in the Hitoyoshi area of Kumamoto Prefecture. It is believed to have originated in the Edo period, in the Shōgun's court. The players show their hands simultaneously, after chanting "hī, fū, san", forming a number from 0 to 5. Whoever has chosen the largest number wins. For instance, 1 beats 0, 2 beats 1, etc. However, 0 beats 5. If both players choose the same number, it is considered a draw. Winning twice in a row is required for victory. (Some people believe it was the origin of the widely known janken, as three of the six possible hands in the game are the same, although their relationship is reversed, and the rules are similar.)^{[citation needed]}
  • The traditional way to play kuma ken is to form two teams with five players each. Each team sits on one side of a long table, in such a way that five pairs of players opposite each other are formed. For each pair, ten sticks are laid on the table. Then, each of them plays the game ten times, whoever wins collecting a stick each time. When there are no sticks left, the pairs are shifted, and the same process is repeated until everyone in each team has played against every member of the opposing team. The team which collects more sticks out of the total of 250 is declared the winner.

• Rock Paper Scissors can also be played in a form of tag. Two teams are separated (there are three lines, the middle line, the other two lines are equally separated, and those are the bases), and on their bases the teams pick a sign(rock paper or scissor). The teams meet in the center, and chant Rock Paper Scissors together, and the winning team gets to runs and tag as many players from the losing team. The losing team has to get back to their base to be safe. The game continues till everyone is on one side.

[edit] Additional weapons

With an odd number of choices, each beats half the weapons and loses to half the weapons. No even number of weapons can be made balanced, unless some pairs of weapons result in a draw; there will always be some weapons superior to others. These also lose some of the aesthetic elegance of the game, which is otherwise one of the simplest possible games of skill.

An example of an unbalanced four-weapon game adds "dynamite" as a trump. Dynamite, expressed as the extended index finger or thumb, always defeats rock, but is defeated by scissors. The paper-dynamite relationship is disputed; using it as a trump generally implies that "dynamite shreds paper," but there are those who claim that the paper would supposedly smother the fuse. Because of this dispute (and the potential unfair advantage that would result), organized rock-paper-scissors contests never use dynamite.^[6]

A resolution diagram of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.

One popular balanced five-weapon expansion, invented by Sam Kass,^[7] adds "Spock" and "lizard" to the standard three. "Spock" is signified with the Star Trek Vulcan salute, while "lizard" is shown by forming the hand into a sock-puppet-like mouth. Spock smashes scissors and vaporizes rock; he is poisoned by lizard and disproved by paper. Lizard poisons Spock and eats paper; it is crushed by rock and decapitated by scissors. This variant was covered in a 2005 article of The Times,^[8] and appeared in an episode of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory "The Lizard-Spock Expansion" episode in 2008.^[9]

In the movie Be Kind Rewind, there is a short scene in which Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) are seen playing rock-paper-scissors, but with the weapons of "water" (hand held like paper but wiggling back and forth) and "laser" (fist with forefinger and pinky extended, like the blaster weapon in the Disney movie The Black Hole). The use of non-standard weapons serves to illustrate the nonconformist, hip nature of the characters.

[edit] Specifics of Jan Ken Pon

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2009)

Usually, though not always, the game starts by both players chanting "Saisho wa gū!" (最初はぐう！^?, "Starting with the stone!") while pumping their fists to synchronize the moves.

They repeat the same pumping while chanting "Jan-ken-pon!" On "pon", the players show a fist for "rock" (ぐう, gū^?), index and middle fingers extended in a "V" for "scissors" (ちょき, choki^?), or all fingers extended for "paper" (ぱあ, pā^?). The exchange is won as determined by the rules:

1. Scissors cut paper
2. Paper covers rock
3. Rock breaks scissors

Ties are broken by repeated plays, either accompanied by two more fist pumps with "Aiko desho!" (あいこでしょ！^?, "Looks like a tie!") or the more rapid single pump with "pon!" There exist many other regional variations.

[edit] The Chants

"Jan-ken-pon!" is the chant commonly said when playing the game. Depending on region, however, the chant can change. Sometimes, instead of "pon," players shout "hoi!" or "poi!" i.e, "Jan-ken-HOI!" or "Jan-ken-POI!" Phrases that sound nothing like "janken" are also used, for example "JikketTA!" In the Kansai region of Japan, it's not that uncommon to hear the chant "in-jan-HOI!" Initially, when players tie, the chant is "aiko deSHO!," with players revealing their play at "sho!" But when players begin to tie continuously, the chant is often shortened to simply "-sho," rapidly changing the play each time. i.e, "aiko deSHO! -SHO! -SHO!"

[edit] Taunts

The rule "Saisho wa gū!" (最初はぐう！^?, "Starting with the stone!") is so popular, that sometimes players use this to taunt one another. For example, instead, a player will say "saisho wa pā!" (最初ぱあ！^?, "Starting with the paper!") Since "saisho wa gū" is expected, the player who is caught off guard will be made a fool of, since pā (paper) wins over gū (rock). But this only works if the players don't know each other, and both are assumed to want to play fair. If a player is a known trickster who likes to start off games by taunting, his opponent might, for example say "Saisho wa choki!" (最初はちょき！^?, "Starting with the scissors!"), and the opponent who thought he was being smart by starting off with pā will be shown up. These taunts are always in play, however, and they are never taken to mean serious games.

[edit] Strategy

The primary strategy for kuma ken is to realize that playing the numbers 1, 2, or 3 is pointless. The number 5 will beat numbers 1 through 4, so at first glance, it appears that 5 is the best choice since it has the most victory possibilities. However, it is not a good idea to rely on this because the other player may realize this and play the number 0, since it is the only way to beat the number 5. To beat 0, playing the number 4 is the obvious choice because it will also beat the opponent if he/she chooses 1, 2, or 3. Once both parties in a game of kuma ken realize this, the game degenerates into janken (play 0 to beat 5, play 5 to beat 4, play 4 to beat 0).

[edit] Rock-paper-scissors analogies in video games

Combat or strategy-based video games often feature rock-paper-scissors-like cycles in their characters' or units' effectiveness against others. These often attempt to emulate cycles in real-world combat (such as where cavalry are effective against archers, archers have an edge over spearmen, and spearmen are strongest against cavalry.) Such game mechanics can make a game somewhat self-balancing, by preventing any one simple strategy from dominating gameplay.^{[original research?]}

Many card-based video games in Japan use the rock-paper-scissors system as their core fighting system, with the winner of each round being able to carry out their designated attack. A popular game involving an extended rock-paper-scissors strategy is Pokémon, in which attacks have varied effectiveness based on 17 elemental types and has a complex effectiveness chart, eg. FIRE burns GRASS, GRASS absorbs WATER, and WATER extinguishes FIRE.

The combat in the fighting game series Dead or Alive is largely a rock-paper-scissors mechanic, where a counter defeats a physical attack like a punch or kick, a physical attack defeats a grapple, and a grapple defeats an attempt at a counter.

Some class-based games, such as the first-person shooter Team Fortress 2 and Fire Emblem, use the same self-balancing mechanism. Certain classes are designed with clear strength or weaknesses against other classes, which encourages players to respond to the changing battlefield and coordinate their efforts.^{[original research?]}

Rock-paper-scissors also featured in Sega's 1986 video game Alex Kidd in Miracle World. At the end of certain levels, the player would need to beat a computer character in a best-of-three game of rock-paper-scissors, in order to pass to the next level. The goal of the game is to defeat the evil Janken and his followers^[10]

In Naruto Ultimate Ninja 4 when two players collide, one must press a button to determine rock, paper, or scissors. The winner then proceeds to attack the loser.

[edit] Rock-paper-scissors analogies in nature

[edit] Lizard mating strategies

The common side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana) exhibits a rock-paper-scissors pattern in its mating strategies. Of its three color types of males, "orange beats blue, blue beats yellow, and yellow beats orange" in competition for females, which is similar to the rules of rock-paper-scissors.^[11]

[edit] Coliform bacteria

Some bacteria also exhibit a rock-paper-scissors dynamic when they engage in antibiotic production. The theory for this finding was demonstrated by computer simulation and in the laboratory by Benjamin Kerr, working at Stanford University with Brendan Bohannan.^[12] The antibiotics in question are the bacteriocins - more specifically, colicins produced by Escherichia coli. Biologist Benjamin C. Kirkup, Jr. further demonstrated that the colicins were active as E. coli compete with each other in the intestines of mice, and that the rock-paper-scissors dynamics allowed for the continued competition among strains: antibiotic-producers defeat antibiotic-sensitives; antibiotic-resisters multiply and withstand and out-compete the antibiotic-producers, letting antibiotic-sensitives multiply and out-compete others; until antibiotic-producers multiply again.^[13]

[edit] Cultural references

Because of its widespread use, the game has received substantial references in popular culture. Many television series poke fun at particular characters' incompetence at understanding the rules, or show how mischievous characters are often able to "win" the game by inventing new objects which beat all the others.

[edit] Likelihood of a throw

Jason Simmons, a competitive rock-paper-scissors champion, claims that women tend to start with scissors,^[14] while the World Rock-Paper-Scissors Society states that males have a tendency to lead with rock. At World Rock-Paper-Scissors tournaments, scissors is statistically the least common throw.^[15]

[edit] Federal case

In 2006, Federal Judge Gregory Presnell from the Middle District of Florida ordered opposing sides in a lengthy court case to settle a trivial (but lengthily debated) point over the appropriate place for a deposition using the game of rock-paper-scissors.^[16] The ruling in Avista Management v. Wausau Underwriters stated:

Upon consideration of the Motion – the latest in a series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts – it is ORDERED that said Motion is DENIED. Instead, the Court will fashion a new form of alternative dispute resolution, to wit: at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006, counsel shall convene at a neutral site agreeable to both parties. If counsel cannot agree on a neutral site, they shall meet on the front steps of the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, 801 North Florida Ave., Tampa, Florida 33602. Each lawyer shall be entitled to be accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness. At that time and location, counsel shall engage in one game of "rock, paper, scissors." The winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location for the 30(b)(6) deposition to be held somewhere in Hillsborough County during the period July 11-12, 2006.

– ^[17]

The public release of this judicial order, widely circulated among area lawyers, was intended to shame the respective law firms regarding their litigation conduct by settling the dispute in a farcical manner.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Auction house rock-paper-scissors match

Large Trees Under the Jas de Bouffan sold for $11,776,000 at Christie's.^[18]

When Takashi Hashiyama, CEO of a Japanese television equipment manufacturer, decided to auction off the collection of impressionist paintings owned by his corporation, including works by Cézanne, Picasso, and van Gogh, he contacted two leading U.S. auction houses, Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings, seeking their proposals on how they would bring the collection to the market as well as how they would maximize the profits from the sale. Both firms made elaborate proposals, but neither was persuasive enough to get Hashiyama’s business. Unwilling to split up the collection into separate auctions, Hashiyama asked the firms to decide between themselves who would hold the auction, which included Cézanne's "Large Trees Under the Jas de Bouffan", worth $12–16 million.

The houses were unable to reach a decision. Hashiyama told the two firms to play rock-paper-scissors, to decide who would get the rights to the auction, explaining that "it probably looks strange to others, but I believe this is the best way to decide between two things which are equally good".

The auction houses had a weekend to come up with a choice of move. Christie's went to the 11-year-old twin daughters of an employee, who suggested "scissors" because "Everybody expects you to choose 'rock'." Sotheby's said that they treated it as a game of chance and had no particular strategy for the game, but went with "paper".^[19]

Christie's won the match, with millions of dollars of commission for the auction house.

[edit] Tournaments

[edit] World Rock Paper Scissors Society sanctioned tournaments

Starting in 2002, the World Rock Paper Scissors Society standardized a set of rules for international play^[20] and has overseen annual International World Championships. These open, competitive championships have been widely attended by players from around the world and have attracted widespread international media attention.^{[21][22][23][24][25]} WRPS events are noted for their large cash prizes, elaborate staging, and colorful competitors.^[26] In 2004, the championships were broadcast on the U.S. television network Fox Sports Net, with the winner being Lee Rammage, who went on to compete in at least one subsequent championship.^[27][28]

[edit] USARPS Tournaments

USA Rock Paper Scissors League is a US-based rock-paper-scissors league. It is sponsored by Bud Light. Matti Leshem is the commissioner of the USARPS.

In April 2006, the inaugural USARPS Championship was held in Las Vegas. Following months of regional qualifying tournaments held across the US, 257 players were flown to Las Vegas for a single-elimination tournament at the House of Blues where the winner received $50,000. The tournament was shown on the A&E Network on June 12, 2006.

The $50,000 2007 USARPS Tournament took place at the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay in May 2007.

In 2008, Sean Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000.

The inaugural Budweiser International Rock, Paper, Scissors Federation Championship was held in Beijing, China after the close of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. A Belfast man won the competition.^[29]

[edit] National XtremeRPS Competition 2007-2008

The XtremeRPS National Competition^[30] is a US nationwide RPS competition with Preliminary Qualifying contests that started in January 2007 and ended in May 2008, followed by regional finals in June and July 2008. The national finals were to be held in Des Moines, Iowa in August 2008, with a chance to win up to $5,000.

[edit] UK Rock Paper Scissors Championship 2009

The 1st UK Championship took place on July 13, 2007 then again July 14, 2008 in rhayder Powys. Steve Frost Powys is the current holder the contester this was WRPS Sanctioned

The 3rd UK Championships took place on June 9 2009 in Exeter, Devon. Nick Hemley, from Surrey, won the contest. This was not WRPS sanctioned.^[31]

[edit] Guinness Book of World Records

On April 3, 2009, Colonel By Secondary School in Ottawa, Canada, held the largest recorded rock-paper-scissors tournament, with approximately 1150 participants. The contest was throughout all the Grade 9-12s, and included teachers. The winner, Cody Lombardo, took home a trophy, and had his name in the Guinness Book of World Records.^[32]

[edit] World Series of Rock Paper Scissors

Former Celebrity Poker Showdown host and USARPS Head Referee^[33] Phil Gordon has hosted an annual $500 World Series of Rock Paper Scissors event in conjunction with the World Series of Poker since 2005.^[34] The winner of the WSORPS receives an entry into the WSOP Main Event. The event is an annual fundraiser for the "Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation" via Gordon's charity Bad Beat on Cancer. Poker Super Star Annie Duke won the Second Annual World Series of Rock Paper Scissors.^[35][36] The tournament is taped by ESPN and highlights are covered during "The Nuts" section of ESPN's annual WSOP broadcast.^[37][38][39] 2009 was the fifth year of the tournament.

[edit] Red Bull World Series

Although not a official event nor a sanctioned event, the Facebook exclusive contest brings a lot of interest into the sporting side as players who have not competed before the chance to play against Professional players in Competition. These players that have never had contest experience in Rock Paper Scissors are known as "Fake Players" or "Amateurs" whereas players who do play in sanctioned contests and play for cash use this tour as a warm up for the series . The contest is played online on a weekly basis via the application on Facebook "Red Bull Roshambull" in which it replicates a touring contest, with points being awarded for how well a contestant did in each Tournament, and after a set amount of Legs have been played, a Double Elimination playoff between the top 16 ranking players to decide the overall champion. There is a slight rivalry between the Amateurs and Pro players.

The 1st Championships ended up with 79 players competing over 19 legs, with Alan Giles, a Amateur player, of Fowly,UK winning the Inaugural Title

Season	Overall Winner	Runner Up	League Shield Champion
Summer 2009	Alan Giles(A)	Mark Thomas(A)	Mark Thomas(A)
Winter 2009/10

(A) denotes Amateur Status

[edit] See also

• Simultaneous action selection

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• USA Rock Paper Scissors League
• World Rock Paper Scissors Society
• UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships
• Abrams, Michael (2004-07-05). "Throwing for The Gold". Pursuits. Forbes FYI. http://www.forbes.com/execpicks/fyi/2005/0407/061.html. Retrieved 2007-04-09. 
• Hegan, Ken (2004-01-07). "Hand to Hand Combat: Down and dirty at the World Rock Paper Scissors Championship". Rolling Stone Feature Article. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938313/hand_to_hand_combat/. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
• "History of Rock Paper Scissors" at JBrowse.com
• Etymological origin of Janken (Japanese)
• About Ken games (Japanese)
• Origins of Janken (Japanese)
• Janken in the world (Japanese)

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