Chopsticks and Japan

It’s well known that the Japanese eat with chopsticks, and any dish featuring rice, noodles, fish etc. will generally be eaten with them. (Certain foods like curry rice or steak require Western silverware). Chopsticks are very easy to use: you just hold one stick between your middle finger and thumb, then hold the second with your forefinger and thumb so that you can create a “scissor” action that allows you to pick up food. The use of chopsticks is taught to children at around the age of three, and it’s common for parents to want to make sure their kids learn to use them properly before they start preschool, making chopstick use one of the first forms of peer pressure children are subjected to in Japanese society. In Japan there’s exactly “one” correct way to do things, a concept that extends to the holding of chopsticks as well, and it’s common for conversations over beers at an izakaya restaurant to turn to how one of the members at the table is holding their chopsticks in a non-standard way. Incidentally, J-List stocks many kinds of chopsticks from Japan, including bamboo chopsticks with rough patches at the ends to make them easier to eat with and awesome training chopsticks. We also posted the most awesome Kitten Balancing Game, a game where you place cute little cat figures on furniture with chopsticks, being careful to avoid knocking them down.

Chopsticks are a big part of life in Japan.