In article >, Dan Logcher
> wrote:

> Mekare wrote:
>
> > Someone recently asked for a good place to buy chopsticks. I just
> > wanted to say I recently had a very good experience with
> > EverythingChopsticks.com ( http://www.everythingchopsticks.com/ ).
> > I ended up speaking with them over the phone, and they were very
> > friendly and professional. Just my 2 cents!
>
> None of the chopsticks on the site, especially the Japanese ones, had
> the rough area near the tip. My brother-in-law bought us two sets of
> Japanese chopsticks during a trip that have this, and it makes
> picking up the slippery stuff a lot easier.
>
> They are veyr nice looking though.. but I have several sets of Thai
> chopsticks made of different blends of laminated hardwood.

One of those amazing surprises: We bumped into a chopstick store in the
neightborhood of Kobe named Motomachi where we probably spent 45
minues. Hundreds of pairs of chopsticks on the wall, each beautiful,
different, curious, fascinating. On the front (as illustrated below),
though I can't read the kanji of the store's name, it says it's been
operating for 1,100+ years; since 894!

<http://tinyurl.com/6k2bt>

Many of these really too expensive, many of them well within reason but
to what end? Still we got a few. All hand-made by artisans from all
over the country.

Another surprise: with iPhoto and Contribute, and a membership at
mac.com, and almost no webpage techno skill, I illustrated it (above
link) in less than 10 minutes.

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.