Why can't you stick chopsticks upright in rice?
Because it mirrors a funeral rite. Rice with chopsticks standing in it is offered to the dead, so doing it at the table reads as a bad omen. Rest your chopsticks on the holder or across the bowl instead.
Where this answer comes from
- Don't stick chopsticks upright in rice Vertical chopsticks in a bowl of rice resemble incense offered to the dead at funerals.…
- Don't pass food chopstick to chopstick Passing food directly between two pairs of chopsticks echoes a funeral ritual involving…
- Say "itadakimasu" before eating Before the first bite, Japanese people say "itadakimasu"—a brief expression of…
Say it in Japanese
Show the card to the staff. The Japanese, how to read it, and the recorded voice.