Most Japanese chopsticks are bamboo or wood finished with lacquer. Traditional urushi lacquer is tapped from the lacquer tree and cures into a hard, waterproof film that resists heat and acid — it is the cured film, not the fact that it comes from a tree, that makes it suitable for food contact. Many everyday chopsticks use a synthetic lacquer instead, which behaves much the same on the table but differently in the kitchen.
That distinction matters when you wash them. Lacquered chopsticks generally want a gentle hand wash: a dishwasher's heat and detergent will dull the finish over time, and on traditional urushi it can lift it. Check the listing for the pair you are looking at — we state the finish and the care for each one.
Japanese chopsticks are shorter than Chinese ones and taper to a fine point, which suits the food they are used with — lifting a single grain of rice, or lifting fish off the bone without breaking it. Sizing is taken seriously in the same way: chopsticks are sold by length rather than one-size-fits-all, and children's pairs are made to a child's hand.
Carrying your own reusable pair, known as My Hashi, has grown steadily in Japan as an alternative to disposable chopsticks — most come with a case, so they travel in a bag and go home to be washed.
