Quote Originally Posted by Brooker
When I got the chopstick question I was usually proud to show them how well I could use them. I never got tired of people complimenting me on that.
I reacted the same way in my first year in Japan. It slowly got irritating in the second year. Now it's almost 4 years, and as Mikecash pointed out I do meet lot's of new people all the time. So I get this chopstick question at least once a month (sometimes as much as 10x a month). That's about 45 months I have been in Japan. I suppose I have been asked this question (and many others) between 50 and 100x out of about 200-300 people I have met. That's a pretty high ratio.

I was even told my technique is better than many Japanese people.
Me too. I have been wondering if it was just so hypocritical compliments, or if so many Japanese really have problems using their chopsticks. However, my wife and her mother visibly cannot use their chopsticks with the same dexterity as I do, and they were the first to compliment me on my skills - something I do not feel proud of anyway, as it just came naturally, without hard practice. I wouldn't feel particularly happy/proud if someone told me that I can turn the pages of a book or put on my choose with great dexterity - well I do feel the same way about chopsticks.

Now the question is, why do many Japanese have trouble using their chopsticks, and why do they make such a big deal of it. I would never think of complimenting them on being able to use a fork and knife, riding a bicyle or being able to go up a ladder. So why these questions about chopsticks ? The only reason I can think of are :

- they believe that using chopsticks is a particularly difficult task that merits praise, because they have trouble using it themselves. (they are chopstickly challenged )
- they don't think that using chopstick is difficult. They are just making fun of foreigners by seeing how they react to hypocritical compliments of no value. (veiled hostility, unfriendliness)
- they don't think that using chopstick is difficult for them, but they believe that foreigners are intrinsicly inferior to Japanese and therefore cannot learn how to use chopsticks. (racism)

Can anyone think of another reason why they would ask this question (especially out of context) with such regularity, nationwide, regardless of their gender, age or socio-economic background ?

In any case, I believe that the first reason is the most likely.