Kids Web Japan

c) It's bad manners to hold your chopsticks over the food on the table while you think about what to eat next.

A boxed lunch and chopsticks. Many Japanese people carry chopsticks in a case like this for eating their daily bento (boxed lunch).

In Japan, chopsticks are used for eating. The two thin sticks are manipulated using four fingers of the right hand (or the left hand if you're left-handed), and are used for all eating maneuvers, including picking up, tearing, and cutting. Chopsticks have been used for over 1,500 years. The earliest chopsticks were like a set of tweezers made from a single folded piece of bamboo.

In Japanese homes, each person has their own set of chopsticks. There are various rules on how to use them, and things you're not supposed to do with chopsticks include licking them, sticking them into food, pulling dishes with them, and placing them on top of plates.