Sanpaku Eyes

About

Sanpaku Eyes is a Japanese slang term meaning "three whites" that refers to the whites of the eyes and their supposed meanings. If the whites of a person's eyes show on either the bottom or top, their eyes are considered "Sanpaku eyes." Whites showing on the bottom part of the eye supposedly means the world poses a risk to the person, such as disease or tragic death, while whites on the top mean the person may have trouble controlling their mentality and might be prone to things like outbursts and violent tendencies. The term was introduced to English speakers in 1960 and used by George Ohsawa, who predicted that John Kennedy would die a tragic death due to his Sanpaku eyes. Online, the term has been used in memes and to attempt to predict the fates of people, many of which include a diagram of examples that's used as an exploitable image macro.

Origin

In Japanese and Chinese medical face readings, whites showing on the top of the eyes allegedly represent a physical imbalance in the body, possibly related to alcoholism, drug addiction, or overconsumption of grain and sugar. When the bottom of the eyes show, it is said to point out a mental imbalance, causing things like rage and violent thoughts and tendencies. Both are said to attract violent incidences and accidents.^[1][2][3] The term was brought to English speakers in 1965 by Japanese educator George Ohsawa, who predicted that notable people including Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy, both of whom had lower-white Sanpaku eyes, would die.^[4]

According to a reverse image search of the original diagram on Tineye,^[9] the earliest known meme to use the picture as a format occurred on December 11th, 2013, by Redditor FigurativelyAdolf, which depicted several controversial figures and serial killers with similar eyes (seen below). The Redditor's account has since been deleted, but the original meme was used alongside other variations numerous times in the following years.

Spread

Sanpaku eyes have been discussed online regularly, including in memes. For example, on December 22nd, 2019, a Redditor posted a meme to /r/Animemes^[5] using the term, garnering over 860 upvotes in three years (shown below).

On August 18th, TikToker^[6] @hey_rey0 posted a video about Sanpaku eyes, talking about celebrities who have them, garnering over 13.9 million views in three months (shown below). On September 30th, SK Desu^[2] posted an article describing the theory and listing people and anime characters with Sanpaku eyes, including Charles Manson, Lincoln, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and more.

Takeoff's Death

Following the death of rapper Takeoff on November 1st, 2022, people began discussing the fact that he had lower Sanpaku eyes. On August 1st, 2022, TikToker^[7] @hey_rey0 posted a video discussing this, garnering over 700,000 views in three days (shown below). On November 4th, HITC^[8] posted an article about Takeoff's Sanpaku eyes.

Various Examples

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Search Interest

External References