Why are ceremonial chopsticks made of willow? Understanding the culture of wood is understanding the "Japanese way of life".
Updated by Tomoko Ogura on July 09, 2025, 11:45 AM JST
Tomoko OGURA
Total Food Co.
(Representative Director of Total Food, Inc., comprehensive food consultant / Outside director of two companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange / Concurrent lecturer at Asia University, Toyo University, and Tokyo Seitoku University / President of Shoku Kijuku / President of Japan Chopstick Culture Association, etc. / After working for Toyota Motor Corporation's Public Relations Department, he became director of international conferences and studied abroad before assuming his current position. After working for Toyota Motor Corporation's Public Relations Department, he worked as a director of an international conference and studied abroad before assuming his current position. With "food and mind" as his main focus, he is well versed in all areas of food, from trends (analysis and development) to food culture, manners, nutrition, health management, food environment and mental health, and has a wide range of specialties. He has written academic papers on "chopstick culture and rituals," "Japanese chopsticks and peculiarities," and "waribashi and the food service industry," and has authored and supervised numerous books on chopsticks. He is said to be the only researcher of Japanese chopstick culture in the world.Total Food official website Japan Chopstick Culture Association website
Chopsticks? What does that have to do with forests?" You may ask, "What does chopsticks have to do with forests?" But the Japanese chopstick culture and food culture have a deep relationship with trees. I believe that this is connected to the lifestyle of the Japanese people, as well as their mentality and way of life.
Japan is a "chopstick-eating" country, where people eat with chopsticks, although people also eat by touching food directly with their hands. Other chopstick-eating countries include China, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, and parts of Singapore, Cambodia, and Mongolia, which together account for about one-third of the world's population.
Contributed by Ma Biao(Gentosha Renaissance Academy, 2018/08) states that "the total population of chopstick-eating countries is about 1.9 billion, accounting for about 25% of the world's total population. However, Japan is considered to be quite unique in terms of the way the tool "chopsticks" are used.
For example, chopsticks in countries other than Japan are made of metal, ceramics, or animal horns, which are now banned, but in Japan they are originally made of wood. This is deeply related to the relationship between the Japanese people and chopsticks. Furthermore, the fact that they are made of wood is one of the factors that influence the national character of the Japanese people.
I have been researching chopstick culture for about 25 years and have written academic papers and books on the subject. I believe it is no exaggeration to say that to know chopsticks is to "know Japan. I hope to tell you about the spirituality of Japanese chopsticks, the relationship between chopstick culture and wood, and other peculiarities of Japanese chopsticks, which are familiar to us but hardly recognized, in the next and subsequent articles.
Unlike in other countries, chopsticks in Japan were originally not "tools for carrying food" but "ritual utensils" used in festivals and ceremonies. They were "sacred utensils" with a special role in traditional ceremonies, used to prevent people from grabbing hold of them when making offerings to the gods.
Chopsticks are still used at important festivals such as the Shinmame Festival, where chopsticks are the first food offered to the gods, a tradition that has continued for over 2,000 years.
In terms of eating utensils, Japan uses a wide variety of types and shapes of utensils. The fact that each type of chopstick has its own meaning is another point that distinguishes Japan from other countries. For example, it is not widely recognized by foreigners or even Japanese that chopsticks have various roles in important occasions in Japanese life, such as annual events and rites of passage.
Shukubashi chopsticks are used for celebratory occasions such as weddings and other rites of passage that are considered milestones in one's life. Shuku-bashi chopsticks are thin on both sides and are officially made of willow wood. They are also called "willow chopsticks" because they are made of willow. They are used only for celebratory occasions such as New Year's Day, the weaning ceremony, weddings, birthday celebrations, first festivals, Shichigosan, and coming-of-age ceremonies.
It is thought that the material of willow is meaningful. It is thought that willow wood was chosen for its sturdiness and strength for fear that it would break and bring bad luck at festive occasions. In addition, willow wood is considered auspicious as a sacred tree purified with water, and because it is white wood, the fragrance of the white wood is said to purge evil spirits. Whether at the weaning ceremony, a wedding, or the New Year's holiday, festive chopsticks are used in the presence of the gods. Therefore, we can imagine that they are made of white wood because they are meant to be used in front of the gods with a pure, innocent, and injury-free heart.
I imagine that by using willow trees, they hoped for a sound body and a mind that would not wither. Willow trees are sometimes referred to as "willow trees" (家内喜), so willow trees are also used from this perspective. Although unrelated to wood, festive chopsticks are double-necked chopsticks. One side is for you to put your mouth on and the other side is for the gods to put their mouths on. The festive chopsticks indicate that through chopsticks, which are sacred vessels for the gods, we are in a place where "food," the source of life, is received together with the gods.
The "first weaning ceremony" is also called "chopstick ceremony," "chopstick ceremony," "chopstick ceremony," "chopstick ceremony," "chopstick ceremony," "chopstick ceremony," and "chopstick ceremony. It is an event held at the 100th day of life when the baby is first born with chopsticks, hoping that the baby will have no lack of food for the rest of his or her life. Some of you may have experienced this event before.
In the "oshibashi-hatsume-shiki" ceremony, which is the first ceremony of weaning in the imperial court, two salted fish with their heads on a white wooden three-way orizumi mat, tied together with gold and silver mizuhiki, two green stones, which are meant to harden the teeth, wrapped in o-takadanshi paper and covered with gold and silver mizuhiki, and red bean porridge are placed on a chopstick stand with white chopsticks made of willow in a single line in the front. The chopsticks are placed on a chopstick stand with white chopsticks made of willow in a straight line in front of the chopsticks. The chopsticks are placed on a chopstick stand with a pair of willow chopsticks in front of the chopsticks. Following this court ceremony, the people also use white wood and willow chopsticks for the first weaning ceremony. They put their wishes for a healthy life into the chopsticks.
In this way, the Japanese people use chopsticks with different meanings, even for the special chopstick materials used on the occasion, to express their wishes, gratitude, and even "a way of life". (Tomoko Ogura, President of Total Food Corporation and Representative of the Japan Chopstick Culture Association)
