Julia Altshuler wrote:
> I forget which thread this morphed from, but I got interested in
> Japanese table manners and North American table manners when eating
> Japanese food. I asked a Japanese friend. She lives most of the time
> in Japan, gets work some of the time in the U.S. and Europe, learned
> English in school and speaks English fluently, if somewhat accented.
>
>
> I asked her:
>
> Is sushi or sashimi ever eaten with one's fingers in Japan? I'm not
> talking about times when one's willing to make allowances for the
> Western idiots. In Japan, amongst people who should know better, in
> restaurants and private homes, does one always use chopsticks?
>
>
> She answered:
>
> It's OK to eat Sushi (not Sashimi) with your fingers. But I would
> advise to use chopsticks. If you can't properly eat sushi with fingers,
> it can turn ugly.
>
>
> --Lia
>
Maybe something got lost in the translation? I have been to Japan
numerous times and it not uncommon and not considered bad form to eat
sushi with your fingers. I think her comment might be more in the
direction of if you are not skilled with hashi then you can make a real
mess trying to eat sushi with them.