箸使い

• Reading: はしつかい
• Romaji: hashitsukai
• Kanji breakdown: 箸 (hashi) — chopsticks; 使い (tsukai) — use, usage, handling
• Pronunciation: /ha.ɕi.t͡sɯ.ka.i/

Meaning

Chopstick etiquette; the manner and skill with which one uses chopsticks.

A noun referring to both the technique of using chopsticks and the etiquette surrounding their use. Taboo behaviours include 立て箸 (standing chopsticks upright in rice, associated with funerary offerings), 渡し箸 (resting them across a bowl), and 移し箸 (passing food directly between two pairs of chopsticks, echoing the handling of bones after cremation).

Examples

1. 正しい箸使いは子供のうちから身につけておきたいマナーの一つだ。 Proper chopstick manners are one of the forms of etiquette you want to instil from childhood.
2. 立て箸は仏事を連想させるため、箸使いとして厳しく戒められる。 Standing chopsticks upright in rice is strongly discouraged as a chopstick manner, as it is associated with funeral rites.
3. 海外からのゲストが流暢な箸使いを披露し、一同が驚いた。 A guest from abroad demonstrated fluent chopstick skills, much to everyone's amazement.

Usage Guide

Context: dining etiquette, traditional culture, manners

Tone: formal

Origin & History

Compound of 箸 (hashi, chopsticks) and 使い (tsukai, use/usage). The word encompasses both the physical skill and the cultural rules governing how chopsticks should be handled at table.

Cultural Context

Era: Traditional–Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal