# "Ohio" in Japan Mishearing the Japanese greeting "Ohayo" (good morning) as the U.S. state of Ohio turned into a running joke that started with manga panels on Imgur in 2013 and bloomed into anime image macros on /r/Animemes by June 2018. By October 2022, TikToker @bleepblop69 posted a travel-shock video about tourists hearing "Ohio" everywhere in Japan, tying the gag into the wider Ohio brainrot humor on the app. ## Origin The earliest documented joke about the "Ohayo"/Ohio collision landed on Imgur on February 8, 2013, when a user posted panels from "The Misadventures of Gaijin-Kun," a webcomic about an American ex-pat in Japan[1]. In the chapter 9 scene, the protagonist is repeatedly greeted with "Ohayo" before snapping, "I'm from New York, damn it!" That same day, Redditor anonymepelle linked the Imgur post to /r/japan, where it earned over 770 upvotes[2]. A proper meme form showed up five years later. On June 17, 2018, Redditor mrhappybottms posted an image to /r/Animemes using KonoSuba stills, with Megumin greeting a Kazuma redrawn as the Ohio state outline with "Ohayo!" while Kazuma answers, "Yes, yes, I'm Ohio"[3]. That post collected around 2,700 upvotes over four years. - **Platform:** Imgur (2013 precursor) / Reddit /r/Animemes (meme origin) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2018 ## Overview The format works in two visual lanes. Early anime subreddit posts matched a character still with a label or map of Ohio, so a cheerful "Ohayo!" greeting reads as the character acknowledging a Midwestern state[3]. Travel-reaction variants arrived later, with a Western tourist panicking that locals in Japan are chanting the name of a cursed state[8]. Tone sits inside the larger Ohio weirdness canon familiar from TikTok and 4chan, where Ohio stands in for anywhere unsettling or liminal. "Ohio" in Japan jokes often take a satirical conspiracy angle, acting as if a routine morning hello is proof of some hidden Buckeye State plot[5]. The format usually plays the mix-up straight, with the Western character sincerely confused and locals cheerfully repeating the "state" every morning. ## How to Use A typical "Ohio" in Japan post stages the misunderstanding visually. The common convention is to pair a Japanese or anime context (a character saying "Ohayo," a Tokyo street scene, a Japan travel clip) with a direct reference to the state of Ohio (its map outline, a highway sign, a cursed Buckeye State image). Travel-reaction variants often use a Westerner reaction GIF, with text framing the greeting as a horrifying surprise[9]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is "Ohio" in Japan? It is a running joke based on the Japanese greeting "Ohayo" (good morning) sounding like the U.S. state of Ohio, driving image macros and travel-reaction posts that act out the mix-up[5]. ### Where did "Ohio" in Japan come from? The earliest humor around the mix-up appeared on Imgur on February 8, 2013, in panels from "The Misadventures of Gaijin-Kun"[1], and the first proper meme landed on /r/Animemes on June 17, 2018, from Redditor mrhappybottms[3]. ### What does "Ohio" in Japan mean? It plays on the Japanese word "Ohayo" (good morning) being misheard by English speakers as the state Ohio, so posters joke that Japanese people constantly reference a cursed Midwestern state[5]. ### How do you use "Ohio" in Japan? Common posts pair an anime character's "Ohayo!" greeting with an Ohio map or state outline[3], or show a Western tourist reacting with horror to hearing "Ohio" during a trip to Japan[9]. ### Is "Ohio" in Japan still popular? The joke peaked between May 2021 and October 2022 across /r/memes, /r/dankmemes, Instagram, and TikTok[8][11]; it still floats around as part of the larger Ohio brainrot humor, though no major new post has been documented since. ## References 1. [https://imgur.com/a/atrIT#0]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/185vye/the_misadventures_of_gaijinkun/]() 3. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Animemes/comments/8rw15m/ohiogozaimasu/]() 4. [https://me.me/i/ohio-ohayo-22795382]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ohio-in-japan-ohayo]() 6. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Animemes/comments/ak752x/am_i_doing_this_right/]() 7. [https://ifunny.co/video/ohayou-whatsya-up-to-wKqODgkr6]() 8. [https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/nfzd1b/low_effort_blue_cheese_meme/]() 9. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/x6eq29/]() 10. [https://www.instagram.com/p/CiPTHLROIeC/]() 11. [https://www.tiktok.com/@bleepblop69/video/7158672094111223082]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/ohio-in-japan-ohayo Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library