peculiar hand gesture of Japanese girls

at the end of the 2004 japanese movie,Shimotsuma Monogatari,the film's two main character actresses,made some unusal hand gestures. They each raised one of their hands in a vee symbol,much like Winston Churchill,and then put this over one eye,peering thru the open vee,smiling & giggleing. can anyone please tell me what the significance is?

Japanese kids have always been making the V sign; you can't take a picture of people of Japan without more than half of them striking the V pose :-) My guess is that it is just a fashionable variant, maybe related to parapara.

Thank you very much Kappa,for your input.can you please explain parapara?

Possible explainations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign#Japan_and_the_V_sign

Another possible explaination, when having a photo taken of oneself soemtimes you think, what should my hands be doing, so it gives you somthing to do with your hands.

btw not just japanese females do it, but I see males do it as well.

I find myself doing it at times, for no rhyme or reason other than thats what people do. I figure that is the majority of the case, rather than any significance such as saying "peace" which has fallen into disuse.

...no real reason to it nowadays except you'll either get photos of Japanese with no smiles at all in their photos, or they're flashing the V sign along with happy, goofy faces... just what everyone does, and everyone else follows what everyone else does in Japan.

after all, why do so many americans smile in photos? no 'reason' to it at all since people in 3rd world cultures don't do it naturally -- it's a cultural phenomenom that's simply passed to others without reason.

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There are creative changes to it as well. You've got the two fingers cured towards you downwards like a cat 'meow', and all sorts of other variations - just kids trying something 'new' to look cool in the photos.

much like how some kids in the usa give the middle finger in photos when they're in their teens and college age.

Thank you so much,Kappa,& John, & by a, for all of your info! It's wonderful to have you all giving your input,...learning about the Japanese culture is very interesting and especially fun when there are others who can help!! ( I bow graciously,and most respectively to you all )
what's the proper J-word for "thank you"?

thank you= arigatou gozaimasu

The variation on the "peace" v sign where the girls hold their fingers in front of their eyes is done because it is considered "kawaii"- super cute to do that. Japanese teenage girls place a lot of emphasis on being as kawaii as possible.

the scene in Shimotsuma Monogatari is two young goofy girlfriends posing for a happy and friendly photograph. And photographs are usually taken for memories and for a good finale of an event. Plus the scene must have given fans a chance to take a good look at their favorite stars; a "service shot" they call it.

I know how to pronounce it, just not to spell it... it's when they put their hand over their head and make an 'm' over their forehead and say that word that starts with an M. It means crazy or something.

Hey Jessica,
Thank You for your recent imput to my question, I think I've formulated an opinion, and it seems that the gesture is a new[distinct] way for kids to say "hey!"...which is really cool with me!