What does rubbing a finger under one's nose mean?


Ash Ketchum sometimes does this:

[![Ash Ketchum / The only protagonist that would think it's cool to wipe snot
off his face in the middle of an
opening.](https://i.stack.imgur.com/weGORm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/weGORm.jpg)

I'm sure this macro is simply ignorant of some Japanese body language he's
using. Another example is here:

[![Ash
Ketchum](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrvvzm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrvvzm.jpg)

I can't recall any other anime character who does this, though, so it may be
more idiosyncratic than I realise. What, if anything, does it mean when a
person does this?




This gesture, typically seen in fiction such as anime, manga, rather old films
or dramas, and typically done by young boys, indicates one's **pride,
confidence, and/or embarrassment**.

In Japanese fictional works, you'd see characters, usually young boys, do this
gesture when they feel proud or confident when someone has praised them or
their achievement. This gesture is also seen when they feel embarrassed or
bashful when someone has praised them for their achievement or thanked them
for their kind deed, etc.

You won't see real people do this gesture in real life, though, at least in
present-day Japan.

