Chopsticks
- Japanese: 箸 (hashi)
Chopsticks were first developed in China circa the 4th century BCE.[1]
Evidence from archeological ruins indicate that the earliest chopstick usage in Japan began sometime in the 7th or 8th century[2].
However, chopsticks are mentioned within Nihon Shoki stories as early as the middle Yayoi period (specifically the case of Yamato Totohi Momoso, positioned around 90 B.C. according to Aston's Nihongi.
It seems highly unlikely, however, that the above Nihon Shoki entry is correct--it is difficult to believe that no Yayoi or Kofun Period chopsticks have been unearthed. Furthermore, the influential Gishi Wajinden, written by Chen Shou in the middle of the 3rd century, makes no mention to chopsticks. It notes that men and women used their fingers to eat[3].
Notes
- ↑ Gallery labels, American Museum of Natural History.[1]
- ↑ Farris, William Wayne. Sacred Texts and Buried Treasure. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 30.
- ↑ http://www2.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~kojin/e-wajinden.html
