Friday Footnote: How to say "No" in Japanese

The finger X, hand X, or forearm X (you may have noticed 🙅🏻‍♀️ among your emojis and wondered about it) is a common sign employed by Japanese people to inform someone else that they either cannot do something they are about to do or be somewhere they are about to go. I was once given a forearm X by a security guard when I attempted to walk through an …