Back in May, as most of Japan was enjoying the Golden Week vacation period, Twitter users took it upon themselves to throw a bone to those diligent employees stuck in the office by tweeting photos of shapely legs with the hashtag #ShowLegToShowSupportForSalarymen. Judging by the enthusiastic reaction, the grassroots movement did plenty to bolster the spirits of men everywhere, but what if you’ve got even more specific tastes than the ordinary leg man? What if, for instance, you’re of the mind that the prime real estate is found above the knee?

Then you’ll be happy to know Japanese Twitter users have already done much of the work of sorting and removing those unappealing shin-centric photos for you, thanks to the trending hashtag #GrandPrixofThighsYou’llWanttoCaress.

It’s unclear who was the first person to tweet a photo of thighs along with the hashtag, which in Japanese is nademawashitaku naru futomomo guran puri (#撫で回したくなるふとももグランプリ). What is clear, though, is that left thigh plus right thigh is a simple but effective recipe for online attention.

https://twitter.com/Y_suzushirO/status/637234454969212928

While early examples were primarily of swimsuit models and other glamorous celebrities, the hashtag has since expanded to include anyone who has upper legs the tweet’s sender thinks would be pleasurable to pat, stroke, or squeeze.

▼ Sometimes the owner of the thighs can even be seen providing a demonstration.

https://twitter.com/futobot/status/636423009075499009 https://twitter.com/ChokoMiki/status/637939758233030656

Although it’s not an iron-clad rule, in order to give maximum exposure to the legs, most photos seem to forgo showing the face.

https://twitter.com/exhaustnote_07/status/635180094638567424

▼ Knee-high socks, stockings, and garters, however, seem to be warmly welcomed in-frame.

https://twitter.com/taotsu0001/status/638655355757588480 https://twitter.com/roki_0217/status/638687118626189312

▼ As are short hemlines, naturally.

https://twitter.com/ruuuuu_____k/status/638669425118326785 https://twitter.com/itohsanphoto/status/636662336070152192

Of course, when Internet culture and appreciation of the female form cross over, you can expect to find a few cosplayers in the mix, some of whom have uploaded pictures of themselves.

▼ “Okay, I’ve got confidence in my thighs, so I’m getting in on this!”

https://twitter.com/mdmddn_/status/638692678318731264

▼ “I’m in!”

And the corollary is that when you get enough cosplayers dressed up as female characters together, at least one of the models is actually a guy.

https://twitter.com/byakko_yun/status/639026296060706816

Then there’s this dude, whose doesn’t need a costume since he’s got some seriously ripped quads to show off instead.

As a matter of fact, there’s not even a requirement that the thighs you’re daydreaming of have to be human.

▼ Well, Plush Toy Baymax’s legs do look soothingly soft.

▼ Even veteran anime director Masami Obari made a contribution.

We’re not sure this one qualifies for the #GrandPrixofThighsYou’llWanttoCaress hashtag, though.

Remember, even if you’ve got Momo-brand wheels on your car, this is supposed to be about futomomo, or thighs, which look like this.

https://twitter.com/Sako__lin/status/638669740739702784

And should you need a reminder, just search Twitter for the hashtag, and you’ll find plenty of other examples.

Source: Kai-You