An
initially confusing but inevitably easy and
elegant way to consume nearly any
kind of food. After 5 meals one should be
proficient at their use, and after a month in any
Asian country, it will be second nature.
The Japanese (and myself) typically prefer o-hashi to western utensils as they are far more versitle than a fork and japanese manners usually render a knife unnecessary. Soups are often noisily slurped directly from the bowl even; thus spoons are a rare sight as well.
O-hashi are better known as chopsticks in the west, of course. They consist of two long sticks, perhaps 1.5 times the length of a hand, which one manipulates with one hand to grab food from your plate for delivery to your mouth. Hashi come in many shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and materials, and one may purchase sets of various lengths, weights, and balances to fit one's hand perfectly.