From the end of the Edo period through the Meiji period, rice was cooked using firewood and a pot. It is not easy to get the fire at the right temperature and the rice has to be cooked to the same texture regardless of where it came from or the size of the grains, so at the time the task required a skilled chef. Therefore, there were “Shari-ya” employed by sushi restaurants who specialized in cooking rice. “Shari-ya” focused on this single task and were not involved in the actual making of the sushi after the rice was passed on to the chefs.
There are manners in using chopsticks that tourists may be unaware of. We would like to introduce some of those here.
First of all, it is impolite to place chopsticks on your dish in the middle of a meal. Make sure to place them back on the chopstick stand when you aren’t using them.
It is also poor manners to stab food with chopsticks (Sashi-bashi) and or to use chopsticks to look through dishes. Please avoid breaking up the beautifully arranged dishes when you eat.
The improper use of chopsticks
1. Passing foods (Hiroi-bashi or Awase-bashi): Never use your chopsticks to take something from someone else’s chopsticks. This way of passing things relates to Japanese funerary customs (Kotsuage).
2. Drawing plates or bowls near you (Saguri-bashi): Don’t draw a plate or bowl toward you with chopsticks.
3. Touching foods unnecessarily (Utsuri-bashi): Don’t touch foods with chopsticks unnecessarily without eating them.
4. Scooping: Don’t scoop up food by using chopsticks like a spoon and bring them to your mouth.
5. Shoveling food into the mouth (Komi-bashi): Don’t put your lips on a plate or bowl and shovel food into your mouth with chopsticks.
6. Picking up plates or bowls while holding chopsticks (Nigiri-bashi): Don’t pick up a plate or bowl while holding chopsticks.
7. Pointing at someone (Sashi-bashi): Don’t point at someone with chopsticks.
8. Laying chopsticks across a plate or bowl: Don’t lay chopsticks across a plate or bowl.
9. They stuff their mouth full of food and push it in with chopsticks (Oshikomi-bashi).
10. Lick the chopstick tips (Neburi-bashi).
11. Hold it with chopsticks while dripping the cooking juices (Namida-bashi).
12. Eating the same food over and over again (Kasane-bashi).
From the end of the Edo period through the Meiji period, rice was cooked using firewood and a pot. It is not easy to get the fire at the right temperature and the rice has to be cooked to the same texture regardless of where it came from or the size of the grains, so at the time the task required a skilled chef. Therefore, there were “Shari-ya” employed by sushi restaurants who specialized in cooking rice. “Shari-ya” focused on this single task and were not involved in the actual making of the sushi after the rice was passed on to the chefs.
There are manners in using chopsticks that tourists may be unaware of. We would like to introduce some of those here.