There are many traditions and unwritten rules surrounding the use of chopsticks
Posted on: June 28, 2011
There are many traditions and unwritten rules surrounding the use of chopsticks, hashi. For example, it is considered particularly taboo to pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, as this is how bones are handled by the family of the deceased after a cremation. If you must pass food from your plate to someone during a meal (a questionable practice in public), pick up the food with your own chopsticks and place it on a small plate to allow the recipient to pick it up with his/her chopsticks. Mismatched chopsticks are not to be used. Standing chopsticks vertically in a bowl of rice is to be avoided, as it recalls burning incense sticks standing up in sand, typically at funerals. Also, the act of stabbing the chopsticks into the food resembles an action devout Buddhists perform when offering ceremonial food to their ancestors at the household shrine. Placing chopsticks so that they point at someone else is considered a symbolic threat.
Chopsticks were in use in Japan as early as the Nara period (710-794), originating in China and swept to Japan (Bridging the Gap, 2008). Since chopsticks are a huge part of Japanese tradition, there are many things one must avoid while using them. If you have no other utensils to use while sharing plates of food, you will need to use the end of the chopsticks (the side you did not eat from) to retrieve the shared food.
Chopsticks can be somewhat challenging if you have never used them. They can take a lot of practice for most, but once you have used them a few times, you will get used to them easily. "Using chopsticks correctly makes you look beautiful when eating…" (Bridging the Gap, 2008) Since there are many chopsticks one can choose from, you want to make sure the ones you choose are comfortable and easy to handle. You don't want them too heavy or too long. They must fit your fingers and feel right. "According to Hyozaemon, you should hold your chopsticks at a point about two-thirds of the way up from the tips. Hold the top chopstick between your thumb and index finger and support it with your middle finger. Your other chopstick should be placed firmly against where your thumb and index finger meet, with it supported against the fingernail on your ring finger. By doing this, the tips of your chopsticks will meet, forming a beak-like triangle. If you can use them dexterously by only moving the upper chopstick, you've got perfect chopstick manners" (Bridging the Gap, 2008).
Visiting someone's house
Wooden step into a Japanese hotel, where one should take off one's shoes and wear the house slippers providedIt is considered an honor to be invited to someone's home in Japan. Many Japanese regard their homes as being too humble to entertain guests. Shoes are not worn inside – since the floor level is often higher than ground or entrance level or even the same height, Japanese don't want the floor to be stained by soil, sand or dust that may be attached to the soles. Instead, shoes are removed in the genkan (mudroom or entrance foyer), and often replaced with slippers called Uwabaki, just wearing socks is also acceptable in informal situations; genkan are found in even small apartments, where they are correspondingly small, and feature a small step up. Socks, however, are not generally removed – bare feet are acceptable when visiting a close friend, but not otherwise. There are also separate slippers used when using a bathroom, for reasons of hygiene.
Wooden geta are provided for short walks outside when entering the house. It is generally considered polite to wear shoes instead of sandals, but sandal wearers may carry a pair of white socks to put over their bare feet or stockings, so that their bare feet will not touch the slippers that the host offers, or they may use tabi socks, worn with the sandals. The shoes are turned around so that the toe faces the door after taking them off. During the winter time, if a guest is wearing a coat or hat, the guest will take it off before the host opens the door. When the guest is leaving, he or she does not put on the coat or hat until the door has closedWooden step into a Japanese hotel, where one should take off one's shoes and wear the house slippers providedIt is considered an honor to be invited to someone's home in Japan. Many Japanese regard their homes as being too humble to entertain guests. Shoes are not worn inside – since the floor level is often higher than ground or entrance level or even the same height, Japanese don't want the floor to be stained by soil, sand or dust that may be attached to the soles. Instead, shoes are removed in the genkan (mudroom or entrance foyer), and often replaced with slippers called Uwabaki, just wearing socks is also acceptable in informal situations; genkan are found in even small apartments, where they are correspondingly small, and feature a small step up. Socks, however, are not generally removed – bare feet are acceptable when visiting a close friend, but not otherwise. There are also separate slippers used when using a bathroom, for reasons of hygiene.