Smiling in ID Photos

Do you smile when you have your ID photos taken? I have a straight face in all of my ID photos expect one. 

When I went to renew my Costco membership, a Costco employee took my picture for my membership card. I was straight-faced when I stood in front of the camera, but then I laughed aloud because the staff said a funny word. He counted aloud, “One, two, three and Zatoichi!” Zatoichi is a famous Japanese movie character. I never imagined hearing the word “Zatoichi” at Costco. Eventually, I got my Costco membership ID photo with my laughing face. – not just a smile, but a full laugh.

I think American people always smile in photos. Meanwhile Japanese people don’t do this, especially in ID photos. My English teacher told me that she was required to not slime when she had her ID photo taken in Japan. I have never seen official Japanese ID photos, such as passports and driver’s licenses, with smile faces. I don’t know if smiling in official documents is forbidden by Japanese law, but we don’t smile and are not good at smiling.

When Japanese people take a picture, they often say “Cheese” like American people. However, “Say cheese” is not for smiling. It just tells us when the shutter will click. Of course, this custom was imported from American culture, but it has changed. I Googled the phrase “Say Cheese” and found that this was first used in a TV commercial in 1963. It seems that while the phrase was adopted in Japanese culture, smiling never was.

I think there has probably been a lot of research about the cultural aspects of ID photos. I won’t dig deeply into this, but I want to figure out whether American people can keep a straight face in a photo if they are asked.

The staff at Costco successfully made me smile. What would I do if I were a cameraman in Japan? I have no idea if I could ask American people to keep a straight face.