Common Chopstick-Related Breaches of Etiquette

Japan is big on tradition, so it should hardly come as a surprise that the dining ritual is laden with rules and etiquette.  Even something as simple as the way you use your chopsticks can be an absolutely scandalous affair.  Keep the following in mind the next time you’re dining at our Bothell sushi restaurant, and you should be able to stop from embarrassing yourself should you ever end up at a real Japanese table:

  • Don’t Insult the Dead: You’d be surprised how many ways a common dinner can evoke a funeral rite.  If you leave your chopsticks standing up in your rice, you are imitating the way that rice is offered to the dead.  If you pass food from one set of chopsticks to another, you are imitating the way that the bones of the dead are transferred during a funeral.  Even leaving your sticks crossed on the table or using an unmatched pair can be associated with funeral rites, and should be avoided at meal time.

  • Don’t Put Chopstick in Your Hair: It is a common misconception that chopsticks are worn in the hair.  However, people who appear to be doing so are actually wearing kanzashi, which are not used for eating.

  • Don’t Use Your Chopsticks for Anything Besides Eating: Don’t play with them, don’t point with them, don’t use them to pass bowls around the table.

  • Always Use the Sticks in Pairs: Your sticks should always act in tandem.  Don’t ever use one independently of the other, particularly if you’re using it to spear a piece of food.

  • Do Not Rub Your Sticks Together: Doing this generally means that the sticks are cheap and splintery, and can be seen as an insult to your host.

  • Take Care with Communal Plates: If people are serving themselves out of a communal plate, there may be a special utensil or set of chopsticks available for this purpose.  If there isn’t, it’s generally acceptable to serve yourself with the end of your own chopsticks that you don’t eat off of.

  • Replace Your Sticks When You’re Finished: At the end of your meal, put your sticks back as you found them.  If a cradle has been provided for this, use it.