As we’ve covered before, there are specific manners around using chopsticks in Japan. Outside of Japan, however, most people have no clue about these rules. It appears one sushi shop in the United States outed itself as having no Japanese staff with a recent ad that commits a massive faux pas.
X user @3_mitsna05 drew a visceral reaction from other Japanese social media users yesterday when they posted this photo from a sushi restaurant in America.
“Were there no Asian people that could check this?” they wrote.
Reaction from other Japanese users was swift and negative. “It’s as bad as sticking your chopsticks [upright] in rice,” one wrote. “My grandma would blow her top!” another wrote.
So…what’s the big deal?
This ad depicts two people doing what’s called hashi-watashi (箸渡し), or passing food between chopsticks. (This can also be referred to as hiroi-bashi, 拾い箸.) The practice is reserved solely for cremation facilities, where workers will use chopsticks to transfer bone fragments to one another – or pick them up at the same time – to place in a funerary urn.
It’s one of Japan’s many death-related practices – and not the only one involving chopsticks. Tate-bashi, or sticking a pair of chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, is also considered taboo, as it’s reserved for offering food to the dead.
OP (the Original Poster) doesn’t tell us which store did this. That’s probably for the best; there’s no reason to bring down Internet hatred on their heads. However, a quick Reverse Image search reveals that this mistake may happen again in the future. This picture is part of a series of stock photos available on sites such as Shutterstock.
The intent here is obvious: the store wanted to create a “date night” image that would appeal to couples. Unfortunately, in doing so, it grabbed an image that would send a Japanese grandma into a murderous rage.
Of course, just because something is a custom in one country doesn’t mean it needs to be obeyed in another. In this case in particular, this “taboo” use of chopsticks seems to be specific to Japan and isn’t forbidden in other Asian countries. (Some commenters on X claim this store’s owner is Chinese.)
Also, just because something’s considered bad manners doesn’t mean people don’t do it even in their home country. A survey in 2019 by Intage Research of 10,000 people, for example, found that over 45% of those surveyed will often or sometimes commit watashi-bashi (渡し箸), or laying your chopsticks across the top of the bowl. Over 40% are also guilty of kaki-bashi (かき箸), or shoveling food into your mouth with chopsticks with your lips on the bowl.
It should be noted, however, that only 20% of people sometimes (16.8%) or sometimes (3.3%) pass food between chopsticks. Almost 80% of those surveyed never do it. This taboo, in other words, appears alive and well.
For those of you planning to come to Japan at some point, this is perhaps a good point of etiquette to keep in the back of your mind. It’s a good way to show respect – and to show that you’ve done your homework.
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