箸
chopsticks
Kanji 2094
Thank you for visiting this Character Home Page. Below you'll find a synopsis of the essay. If you wish to read the full text, the PDF of the essay is available for purchase to the right.
Learn how chopsticks can rest and bathe—and what “pregnant chopsticks” signify. See how 箸 can serve as a stand-in for “eating.” If a human uses one end of chopsticks, find out who eats from the other end. Discover dozens of chopstick taboos, and see which ones remind people of funerals. Find out about the おてもと on chopstick wrappers, and learn why the Chinese dropped 箸.
Revision history:
Feb. 24, 2022: From p. 12 onward, I changed the first halves of quite a few breakdowns from nouns to infinitives. I did so whenever a compound incorporates the pre-masu form of a verb.
August 2, 2021: Revised the stroke order diagram on p. 1 to show the official 15-stroke version of 箸 and added a sidebar to p. 2 to comment on the stroke-count issue.
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