Japanese blogger Jinushi Keisuke gets coddled by his "girlfriend." Photo: Screenshot via Daily Portal Z

Who needs a girlfriend when you've got your right hand?

A Japanese blogger raises laughs with his "right hand girlfriend" photoset

Published: 12:48pm, 9 Aug 2013

For all the lonely single men out there who desperately want to take cute photos with a girlfriend - there now exists a way to do so. And you don’t even need an actual girlfriend. All you need is your right hand.

The master at work. Photo: Screenshot via Daily Portal Z

Photos of a man taking carefully framed “selfie” photographs have gone viral on the internet, appearing on Japanese, Chinese and Korean blogs. The images make the man, blogger Jinushi Keisuke, appear as if he’s being lovingly coddled and fed by a girlfriend with red-painted fingernails. But in reality, the hand that feeds Jinushi is his own – just carefully disguised and framed to appear like a woman’s.

Jinushi, who writes for the Japanese humour site Daily Portal Z, posted the photoset on August 2 with a detailed step-by-step description of how to re-create the deceptive illusion.

Instant cute photo - girlfriend sold separately. Photo: Screenshot via Daily Portal Z

“The act of a girlfriend feeding her boyfriend and making him say ‘ah’ as he opens his mouth is typical of flirting and a symbol of happiness,” Jinushi wrote. “But a man can’t make himself say ‘ah’ alone! A lover is required. But you don’t need a real lover… Your right hand can become your lover! Just remember to push the shutter of your smartphone with your left hand.”

Jinushi’s posts detail how any lovelorn bachelor can create his own “happy photo story” in a similar manner, but he also warns his readers that in order to ensure foolproof photos, they must make their right hand a bit more attractive first.

“I painted foundation and nail polish on my hand,” Jinushi said. “The soft, glittering hand of a woman can be reproduced this way, and it’s perfect if you slip a scrunchie on your wrist afterwards!”

Before taking photos like this, it is important to make your hand look like a woman's. Photo: Screenshot via Daily Portal Z

Lastly, Jinushi reminds fellow bachelors that the most important thing is to put on a shy, embarrassed smile in the photos, like any normal boyfriend might do.

“In that feeling of embarrassment [when your girlfriend takes photos of you], the true boyfriend is born!” he wrote.

Jinushi's photos poke fun at "otaku" in Japan. Photo: Screenshot via Daily Portal Z

Jinushi’s satirical posts are generally known as playful jabs at Japan’s otaku – a term sometimes used to stereotypically refer to “nerds” who have trouble attracting members of the opposite sex. Otaku culture is well-known not only in Japan but also in other Asian countries, where it has given birth to an array of internet memes, usually depicting well-meaning but socially awkward otaku trying to create the illusion that they are not living a "forever alone" lifestyle.

Jinushi's posts are among the most popular of these memes, and his recent photoset on the "right hand girlfriend" was featured at the top of Taiwan's Yahoo news site. It has also attracted widespread attention on Sina Weibo, China's leading social network.

“I guess even a good woman can’t keep up with the right hand of a man!” one Chinese netizen chuckled.

This is not the first of Jinushi’s parody posts that have gone viral. Previously, the blogger wrote an extensive guide on how to give off the appearance of passionately kissing a woman by positioning a wig on your shoulder and standing at an angle in an alleyway.

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