Do NOT do this with your chopsticks and rice!
Last night I was scrolling through sushi paraphernalia on the internet (yes this is what I do in my down time) and I happened upon a graphic of a bowl of chirashi sushi (that’s slices of fish over a bowl of rice) with the chopsticks stuck vertically into the meal. This brought back a not-so-fond memory…
OOPS!
I was eating with a Japanese classmate at a Tokyo restaurant, and I was making some important point (I’m sure), gesturing wildly with my chopsticks as I was eating. Reaching a particularly dramatic point, I stuck my chopsticks in the rice and began gesturing with both hands to really demonstrative how enthusiastic I was about whatever I was talking about. My friend’s eyes grew big as saucers and he turned red as a piece of tuna sushi. He grabbed my chopsticks out of my rice and placed them on the bowl. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He replied as serious as a heart attack: “Don’t EVER do that?” “What?” I wondered.
This faux pas can get you killed!
Well, to make a long story short, apparently I committed next to a mortal sin by placing my chopsticks in the rice vertically. This act is the equivalent of telling the chef that his food sucks, he sucks, his mother sucks, etc. You get it. It’s highly offensive, and chefs have been known (allegedly) to go after folks with knives in a murderous rage after being disrespected in that manner. I actually think it might be justifiable homicide in Japan. In any event, don’t do it. Ever.
