We all know foreign countries have lots of rules that are strange to us... especially when it comes to Japan! * But since we're foreigners, it's expected that we can't possibly remember all their etiquette rules... so it's totally fine to throw all manners to the wind! ** To help you out with that, here are: 20 easy ways to brake all the rules when it comes to chopsticks When you want to set your chopsticks down, stick them in your rice so that they stand straight up! (Instead, always lay the chopsticks horizontally on the edge of a dish or on the chopstick rest. Why? Because this is the way a bowl of rice is offered to the spirit of a dead person, at their deathbed or in front of their photograph on the household Buddhist altar. Crossing your chopsticks on the table or food is also considered to be a no-no for the same reason, but the upright-in-rice thing is the worst.) Pass food to your eating companion by having them take it from between your chopsticks with their chopsticks! (Don’t pass food from your chopsticks directly to someone else’s. The proper way is for you to place the food down in between yourself and the other person, on a plate. Then they can pick it up from there with their own chopsticks. Why? When a person dies and is cremated, their bones are passed from chopstick to chopstick as a part of the Buddhist funeral ritual. You should also not pick up one piece of food with two pairs of chopsticks (held by two people).) If you're having trouble picking up a piece of food with chopsticks, just stab it with a chopstick! (Don’t spear your food in order to pick it up. Food must always be pinched between the two chopstick ends. Chopsticks are always used together, as if they are attached to each other invisibly. Think of them as tweezers or tongs, not a pair of skewers... spearing food is bad. Just sayin’.) If you can't choose between two pretty pairs of chopsticks, no worries... just use one of each! (Do not use unmatched chopsticks. Why? Well for one, it looks funny. But it is also reminiscent of some funeral rites... always unlucky.) If you've got food stuck to your chopsticks, you should totally wash your chopsticks off in your drink. (... ew.) Instead of putting your chopsticks down, just hold them in your mouth... it's so much more convenient! (Don’t leave your hashi in your mouth while you do something else with your hands, like pick up plates or bowls. Hello, dangerous!) Chopsticks make excellent swords! (Do not use your hashi as toys.) And we all know chopsticks are great drumsticks, too! (Do not pretend your hashi are drumsticks and pound the table with them.) Hey look... if I stick my chopsticks between my upper lip and my gums, I look like a vampire! (Ahem. Manners, people!) And if I stick them up my nose, I look like a walrus! (Do remember you will be eating with these later...) I have long hair, and a pretty pair of chopsticks, so I'm just going to stick them in my hair... isn't that pretty? (There do exist hair accessories that look very similar to hashi, but it's generally better not to use hashi that you plan to eat with as hair accessories.) When you break apart your disposable wooden chopsticks, rub them together to make sure all the splinters are gone before you eat with them! (This is actually an insult - by rubbing your chopsticks together, you are implying that the restaurant is cheap and is providing you with subpar chopsticks... definitely not something you want to be pointing out, even if true!) On a side note, if you're eating sushi, you should definitely mix your soy sauce and wasabi together... because it's DELICIOUS. (Wasabi and shoyu are meant to be enjoyed as two separate condiments, not as a single paste. This is an easy way to make yourself stick out as a foreigner!) Sucking on your chopsticks to get every last bit of sauce and deliciousness is highly encouraged! (You wouldn't lick your plate at a restaurant,