12 Things You Mustn’t Do When Eating With Chopsticks in Japan

If you are reading this article, maybe you are having a business dinner with your Japanese counterparts soon. Maybe you have been invited to a Japanese family dinner. Maybe you are afraid to make a cultural mistake during your upcoming trip to Japan.

Worry no more! Here are the keys that will allow you to use chopsticks properly and have the perfect chopstick manners.

How to Hold Your Chopsticks Properly in Two Steps

Chopsticks (called “o-hashi” in Japanese) should be held about three-fifths of the way up from the pointed end. This is considered to be more elegant.

Hold the first chopstick — which will be the uppermost chopstick — in the same way that you hold a pen:

Slide the second chopstick in under the first, resting it at the base of your thumb, then supporting it with your ring finger.