Why do the Japan women’s hockey players bow after goals?

The way Japan celebrates its goals in women’s ice hockey might not shock you, but the reason behind it probably isn’t what you expected.

Sometimes it’s fun to take expectations or stereotypes and tweak them for your own amusement. The Japan women’s ice hockey team sure seems to think so.

You might have missed it since Japan only scored once in a 3-1 loss to Switzerland (and the game was played in the wee hours of the morning in the U.S.), but after Hanae Kubo lit the lamp, her teammates joined her in a small circle and bowed to each other.

A cultural tradition? Not quite. As NBC announcer and former Team USA hockey player AJ Mleczko explained, it actually started as a joke based on what the Japanese players thought people might expect them to do as a celebration.

They had success doing it, and as athletes sometimes do, the players came to believe it was good luck. So they just kept doing it, turning it into one of those “turning stereotypes into something new” things.

Whether Team Japan will still feel that way after the 2018 Winter Olympics is a valid question. The loss to Switzerland dropped the squad to 0-2 in pool play with only two goals scored, results which have already relegated Japan to the classification games where teams not in medal contention play to determine the final finishing order for the women’s hockey tournament.

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So it’s possible this particular goal celebration could go away by the next big international tournament. It’s still worth noting while it’s here, and you can look for it any time Japan is on TV for the rest of these Games.