Kyoto has many representative handicrafts, one of which is chopsticks, which is a must-have for many Japanese to buy in Kyoto. I have heard a statement about the cultural differences between China and Japan. It is said: “The same is the use of chopsticks, which are placed horizontally and straightly. Actually, it is a lot worse.”
Today, I will talk about how different Japan is from us from the chopsticks.
In the table manners of Chinese culture, chopsticks should be placed vertically; in Japan, chopsticks are yawed. My understanding is that because the Chinese eat a round table, the dishes are placed in the middle of the table, everyone is holding chopsticks to the center of the table, so the tip of the chopsticks points to the center of the table.
In Japan, when you officially dine, the dishes are served according to the weight of one person. They are good and serve, especially in the feudal era. When the distinguished people eat with their subordinates, the taller sits on the top and faces. Sitting down the lower-ranking people, each with a square tray in front of them. At this time, if the chopsticks are straight, the tip of the chopsticks will face the other side, and the feeling of attacking the noble person is an ideology, so it is absolutely impossible.
I once discussed with Japanese professors why the Japanese tradition is so cumbersome and unbreakable. The professor replied: “Because Japan has not undergone a revolution.” Japan is a country that has been passed down from generation to generation, and the only history has been reformed. It has never completely overthrown the system. thought. The accumulation of thousands of years, together with the admiration of the beautiful and national nature, has bred various rules of behavior and behavior. These delicate rules have become the norm for the Japanese to judge the level of character. Just using chopsticks, there are many rules.
Before talking about the rules of using chopsticks, let’s talk about a big taboo for Japanese chopsticks. We traditionally use round tables and even turntables on the table. In order to show hospitality and hospitality, the owner often helps the people at the same table to serve dishes. At this time, we often use chopsticks to pick up. However, in Japan, it is a big taboo to use one chopstick to clip things and one side to use chopsticks. Because Japan only uses chopsticks when smashing ash after cremation. If you have the opportunity to dine with the Japanese, be careful not to commit this taboo.
In the Japanese family, everyone has special chopsticks, so the chopsticks in the Japanese chopsticks shop are sold separately, and there are many different styles to easily distinguish who the chopsticks are. Japanese friends said that this is like a toothbrush, and everyone uses it. This is a habit of mixing with chopsticks in most of our country, which is very different In Japan, a cheap canteen will put a large number of chopsticks in the bucket. Ordinary restaurants will provide disposable chopsticks only once, or after cleaning, put a pair of pairs in a paper sleeve. More elegant restaurants offer chopsticks that are placed on chopsticks and workmanship.
If there are no chopsticks when dining, the Japanese will fold one out of the paper holder with chopsticks. Unless it is a cheap canteen, you have to take out the chopsticks from the chopsticks bucket, and even if there are no paper sets, you can’t help it. Some Japanese people will also fold out a variety of chopsticks racks. When the meal is over, the educated people will also open the chopsticks holder, and put the used chopsticks back into the paper sleeve, but it will be in the paper sleeve. The front end of the reversal section indicates that this is used.
Japanese people have gestures from taking chopsticks to putting chopsticks. They can’t be put up with one hand. This set of rules is trained from an early age. Because most people are right-handed, I use most people to use them. Try to explain.
First, when taking chopsticks, the right hand is down, use the thumb and forefinger to pick up the wavy chopsticks, then put it on the left palm of the natural merged five fingers, and use the left hand to clip the chopsticks lying on the palm of your hand, then turn the right palm into the upwards. The right hand’s tiger’s mouth also grips the other side of the chopsticks, and then the left hand retracts. At this time, the chopsticks can be used normally in the right hand.
Then put down the chopsticks, the right hand will use the used chopsticks, first placed in the left-hand palm up the tiger’s mouth, and clamped. At this time, the chopsticks are placed on the left hand, then the right-hand retreats to the end of the right side of the chopsticks, the right palm is down, and after adjusting the length and angle of the chopsticks, the right hand then goes back to the middle of the chopsticks with the chopsticks and the left-hand retreats. Next, only use the right hand to put the chopsticks neatly back on the chopstick holder.
When using chopsticks to sandwich food, there are also some behaviors that are considered rude. For example, when we give food to others, we often hold chopsticks in reverse. This is called “reverse (さかさばし)” in Japan. The Japanese kanji “箸” means “chopsticks.” It is not good to reverse it. It is recommended to use double chopsticks.
Also, we often eat half of the timeout and put the chopsticks on the bowl. This is called “Taiwan (わたしばし)” and “crossing” is also a rude behavior. The chopsticks should be put back into the bowl. On the front of the chopsticks stand.
There are also some habits of using chopsticks to clip food, which is also very inappropriate, like:
“Tears (なみだばし)”, “tears”, “tears”, which refers to the broth that drops from the food when the food is picked up.
“Hedgehog (さしばし)”, “Puncture” of the “thorn” is to take the tip of the chopsticks and directly prick the food to pick it up like we used to chop a fish ball with chopsticks.
“Missing (まよいばし)” and “Lost” are the fans. At the upper end of several dishes, chopsticks come back and forth. I don’t know which one to sandwich.
“Exploring (さぐりばし)” and “snapping” are “snapping” in a dish.
“Send (箸)” and “send” “send”, this is bad behavior of using chopsticks to clip the dishes.
There are also some mistakes in using chopsticks that are directly explained by Chinese characters. For example, inserting chopsticks directly into the rice is like inserting incense. This kind of behavior is also taboo in China, and both China and Japan are the same.
In addition, the chopsticks are used to deliver food to the mouth, but not completely in the mouth, but one end is pulled with chopsticks, and the other end is bitten with teeth, which is not acceptable. In this regard, I am going to shout. Even in Japan, not all dishes are like Japanese food. I pay attention to the size of the knife. When I eat fried pork chops, I often make this mistake.
It is also inappropriate to get the food and use the chopsticks to divide the whole portion into small pieces. Cross the chopsticks and turn them into scissors. You can’t cut a piece of food. You can’t insert the chopsticks into a piece of food and separate them to the left and right.
When eating and drinking soup in Japan, you must hold the bowl, but if you put the bowl on the mouth and use chopsticks to send it to your mouth if the end of the chopsticks touches the forehead or hair, this is not noble.
When it comes to soup, in Japan, I hold a bowl in one hand and a chopstick in one hand. At this time, be careful not to let the tip of the chopsticks face toward the front. The reason is as mentioned at the beginning. The tip of the chopsticks is facing the front. In the past, Very disrespectful.
So what should we do at this time? When taking the soup bowl, the left thumb holds the bowl, and the other four fingers hold the bottom of the bowl. When you are purely drinking soup, but not the material inside the soup, the right hand will put the chopsticks that have just been used horizontally. Hold the middle finger at the bottom of the bowl and let the chopsticks parallel with the person. The right hand then holds the bowl and holds the bowl with both hands. At this time, the chopsticks are at the bottom of the bowl, with the left middle finger buckled, then the right-hand releases the chopsticks, and the palms are held against the bowl side.
Japan has so many rules with chopsticks. Of course, even the local Japanese can not do it, but this is indeed the code of conduct for Japanese people to observe whether the other is from a well-educated family.
The Kyoto people pay great attention to these small details because in the past it was the Millennium Imperial City. If you want to come, there is no place in Japan that adheres to these details more than Kyoto.