80 years on from atomic bombing in Hiroshima, search for missing continues on nearby island
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
8 Tips For Using Chopsticks Like A Pro
Chopstick mastery is all about technique, muscle memory, and cultural curiosity. For most people, the sharp learning curve is accompanied by slivered noodles, dropped dumplings, and achy fingers — but it need not be so tedious. With a solid plan and a bit of consistency, using chopsticks can become second nature. Far more than a utensil, chopsticks are deeply ingrained in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and other cuisines. Using them correctly is to show respect, not just for the food, but for the tradition, too. Learning begins with a small series of steps, such as the ideal material to begin with. Then comes the practice required in holding the grip itself — but no worries, we'll tell you exactly how to start from the very first step. Gradually, you will develop the dexterity and muscle memory required for precision. Technique, however, is only part of the picture. Manners are important too. Most everyday folks are not aware that certain things as seemingly innocuous as how you place your chopsticks into a bowl, can potentially be a sign of disrespect in most Asian cultures. These are not regulations — these are an interpretation of tradition. The following is a practical, no-nonsense guide to gaining some confidence and competence. We'll cover the variations in chopstick etiquette from country to country, offer ideas on how to practice in everyday contexts, and provide tools that make learning easier for beginners. Whether you're preparing to travel or just need to level up a life skill, these tips can offer a hand. Read more: 13 Chinese Restaurant Chains, Ranked Worst To Best Choose The Right Material While it might be tempting to use the prettiest pair of chopsticks or whatever a restaurant has on hand, not all chopsticks are created equal, especially for a novice. The most forgiving chopsticks for a novice are wood and bamboo. They tend to have more texture and friction, helping keep food in place without slipping. In contrast to plastic or lacquered varieties, which can be smooth and slippery, wood and bamboo are easier to grip and won't slip in your hands as much. Many disposable chopsticks found in takeout meals are often made of soft birch, and while they're not ideal for long-term use, they are a decent starting point if you're learning on the fly. Plastic and metal chopsticks are often favored for durability and design, but they're better suited for experienced users. Metal chopsticks, like the flat stainless steel ones used in Korean cuisine, are especially tricky at first. They're thin, smooth, heavy, and require far more dexterity. Some lack texturing or grip, meaning food can simply slide out -- especially if you're still getting the hang of finger placement. If you're new to using chopsticks, look for beginner chopsticks with textured or ridged tips. There are even "training" chopsticks available with finger guides or soft connectors to help newbies develop muscle memory. When grip and movement become second nature, you can graduate to sleeker materials. But to start, stick with wood or bamboo — they offer the best balance of control and comfort. Learn The Correct Grip As a prelude to learning more sophisticated chopstick moves, you first need to learn how to hold them. Grip determines everything; it establishes your precision, comfort, and control. The majority of newbies tend to use a grip that creates tension in the wrong areas or makes the chopsticks harder to maneuver. It's worth taking note of finger positioning early on so you don't have to unlearn it later. The most common grip method you'll notice is to hold one chopstick in place — putting it into the groove between the thumb and index finger, braced by the ring finger. This chopstick does not move much. The top chopstick, however, is governed by the index and middle fingers only, pivoting up and down in a pincer action to retrieve food. Visualize it like grasping one end of tweezers in one hand and the other end in the other; the one glides, the other does not. This is standard in Japan and China, though accurate finger position does differ slightly as a result of chopstick length and width. If mechanics are frustrating you, there are many visual tutorials and video lessons available online demonstrating correct hand placement in sequence. Some will even give specific instructions according to hand size and the type of chopsticks you're using. Practice With Larger, Dry Foods Once you have the basics of grip down, it's time to gain some dexterity and confidence by way of practice. Diving headfirst into a bowl of rice or a plate of slippery noodles as a beginner will be discouraging. That's why dry foods — especially those that are solid and easy to grasp — are perfect for practicing. Start with large, easy-to-pick-up foods such as carrot sticks, broccoli florets, or chunks of cooked chicken. These have a larger surface area and won't slip as readily, so you can play around with getting a feel for how to move your chopsticks. Once you're comfortable picking those up, go for more difficult, small foods like almonds, popcorn, or crackers. The goal here is to build the dexterous movements involved in guiding the top chopstick while keeping the bottom one steady. Dry foods allow you to practice that without the extra frustration of slickness. Dried beans and lentils are also other options; they're small, hard, and not oily, so they're ideal for honing your accuracy and finger dexterity. Practicing daily, even just for a few minutes, helps develop rhythm and reduces hand fatigue. It's not just about eating — it's about coordination and consistency. With time, your fingers will move instinctively, and you'll be able to enjoy meals without thinking twice. Master The Pinch And Pivot One of the most important mechanical principles involved in chopstick use is getting a handle on the pinch and pivot. Even though it seems as though both sticks are about to move as a single unit, only the top chopstick should ever be moving. The bottom stays stationary — grasped between your thumb and the base of your ring finger or nestled between your index and thumb, depending on the size and shape of your hand. The top chopstick is where the magic happens. You control it with your middle and index fingers, levering it up and down. This is what allows you to pick up, pinch, and hold onto food. If done right, your hand shouldn't be shaky or strained — just a smooth, coordinated motion between a stable base and a pointed top stick. Beginners typically make the mistake of moving both chopsticks together, which leads to clumsy, inexact manipulation. It's tempting to want to stuff food between two moving sticks, but it isn't efficient and is much harder to control. Visualize working with a pair of tongs where one arm is fixed. You need stability on one side to guide and grip effectively with the other. Try practicing with a variety of textures and sizes of dry food. Try the motion slowly, then increase your speed as your confidence grows. As your hand adapts to the correct motion, you'll find the "pinch and pivot" becomes muscle memory. After some time, it will become second nature. Practice Daily To Improve Your Motor Skills As with all skills involving fine motor coordination (learning a musical instrument, penmanship, or tying shoes), mastering chopsticks simply requires practice. The more you use them, the more natural and automatic they'll feel. Even a few minutes each day will build the muscle memory and coordination necessary for confident movements. Start by consuming small snacks around the house with chopsticks. Pick up crackers, pretzels, or sliced fruit while watching TV or working at your desk. These low-pressure moments are perfect for experimenting with grip, speed, and control without the stress of trying to eat an entire meal in a restaurant (with a date's eyes on you). Don't limit yourself to food, either. Improve your chopstick skills by using them in settings outside of mealtimes. Try to transfer paperclips from one cup to another cup, or pick up buttons or dry bean. These exercises are finger strengtheners, hand-eye coordinators, and pinch-and-pivot refiners. Practicing every day won't just improve your dining experience; it can even help improve fine motor skills during adolescence. It can also be helpful for adults. A Korean study in physical therapy found that working those small muscles with regular use is great for dexterity, especially in non-dominant hands. The key is consistency. Build it into your routine, and within a few weeks, you'll likely notice smoother motion and better control. Chopsticks may feel clumsy at first, but with repetition, they'll start to feel like an extension of your hand. Avoid Etiquette Faux Pas Learning to use chopsticks isn't just about technique; it's also about learning the rules of etiquette surrounding their use. In many Asian cultures, the way you use your chopsticks says a lot about the respect you have for the food, the meal, and the company. A single misstep may not faze everyone, but it's nice to know the basics. One of the most important rules is to never stick chopsticks upright in a rice bowl. In some East Asian cultures, including in Japan, this evokes a ritualistic presentation following funerals. It's very inappropriate to do this at the dinner table. Put your chopsticks beside the bowl or on a chopstick rest (called a hashi-oki in Japanese cuisine) instead. Don't point with your chopsticks or use them to gesture while talking, either. It comes across as hostile or rejecting. Passing food from one set of chopsticks to another is also a big no-no in Japan, where this replicates a part of a cremation ceremony. If you must share food, it's more courteous to place it on a plate or offer a serving spoon. Even the way you lay down your chopsticks matters. Don't cross them on the table — it's generally associated with death or bad fortune in China. If there is no chopstick rest, lay them parallel across your bowl or plate neatly. By learning about and paying attention to these etiquette rules, you get a richer understanding of the cultures that created chopsticks in the first place. Study Style By Country Although chopsticks might seem universal, the way they're used — and even their build — varies significantly across East Asia. To truly be a chopstick master, it's helpful to know how technique and etiquette vary from country to country, whether in Japan, China, or Korea. In turn, this will make you more adept, and also demonstrates cultural awareness and thoughtfulness when dining. Chinese chopsticks are long. They are typically squared at the gripping end and rounded at the tip, making them ideal to dip into shared dishes placed in the center of the table, which helps facilitate communal eating. The grip style is fairly relaxed, and functionality is more important than accuracy. Japanese chopsticks are shorter and narrow to a fine point. This gives greater accuracy in handling foods like sushi or sliced sashimi. The shorter length is also suitable for the Japanese custom of single, plated dishes rather than communal ones. Korean chopsticks are different in that they're often made of metal and are flat, not round. This originated from royal court dining practices and subsequently spread out. And because metal is heavier and more slippery than wood or bamboo, Koreans often use chopsticks with a long-handled spoon. Being familiar with the basics of each nation's chopstick etiquette not only makes one more informed, but also allows one to easily blend in at social and cultural dining events. Each tradition has its own rhythm — learning them is a mark of true gastronomic expertise. Try Training Tools If you're still not able to get used to chopsticks, don't panic! That's where training aids come in handy. They assist you in learning the correct technique without the exasperation that usually follows during first attempts. Chopstick training, which is typically intended for kids but just as useful for grown-ups, utilizes flexible connectors or silicone bridges to hold the sticks together. This allows you to work on finger movement and coordination without worrying about the sticks falling out of sync. They're perfect for working on the "pinch and pivot" motion, enabling you to build control and muscle memory along the way. A second easy-to-find aid is a rubber band. Wrap it around the tops of the sticks near the gripping end, then insert a small paper ball or napkin fragment between the sticks near the bottom. This creates a spring effect, helping to duplicate the proper motion of chopsticks with much less effort. Once you get more comfortable, you can remove the aid and grip them alone. These tools are especially helpful for folks working on motor skills, beginners, or anyone exasperated by the sharp initial learning curve. They're inexpensive, easily found on the internet, and subtle enough to work on at home or at your desk. Using chopstick modifications really isn't cheating. Think of it as a smart way to accelerate your learning. Eventually, your hand will naturally default to the correct positioning. Training tools bridge the gap between awkward and intuitive. Read the original article on Tasting Table. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
80 years on from atomic bombing in Hiroshima, search for missing continues on nearby island
When the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago on Aug. 6, thousands of the dead and dying were brought to the small, rural island of Ninoshima, just south of Hiroshima. Decades later, people in the area are looking for the remains of the missing, driven by a desire to account for and honor the victims and bring relief to survivors who are still tormented by memories of missing loved ones.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
80 years on, Korean survivors of WWII atomic bombs still suffer
Bae Kyung-mi was five years old when the Americans dropped "Little Boy", the atomic bomb that flattened Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Like thousands of other ethnic Koreans working in the city at the time, her family kept the horror a secret. Many feared the stigma from doing menial work for colonial ruler Japan, and false rumours that radiation sickness was contagious. Bae recalls hearing planes overhead while she was playing at her home in Hiroshima on that day. Within minutes, she was buried in rubble. "I told my mom in Japanese, 'Mom! There are airplanes!'" Bae, now 85, told AFP. She passed out shortly after. Her home collapsed on top of her, but the debris shielded her from the burns that killed tens of thousands of people -- including her aunt and uncle. After the family moved back to Korea, they did not speak of their experience. "I never told my husband that I was in Hiroshima and a victim of the bombing," Bae said. "Back then, people often said you had married the wrong person if he or she was an atomic bombing survivor." Her two sons only learned she had been in Hiroshima when she registered at a special centre set up in 1996 in Hapcheon in South Korea for victims of the bombings, she said. Bae said she feared her children would suffer from radiation-related illnesses that afflicted her, forcing her to have her ovaries and a breast removed because of the high cancer risk. - A burning city - She knew why she was getting sick, but did not tell her own family. "We all hushed it up," she said. Some 740,000 people were killed or injured in the twin bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More than 10 percent of the victims were Korean, data suggests, the result of huge flows of people to Japan while it colonised the Korean peninsula. Survivors who stayed in Japan found they had to endure discrimination both as "hibakusha", or atomic bomb survivors, and as Koreans. Many Koreans also had to choose between pro-Pyongyang and pro-Seoul groups in Japan, after the peninsula was left divided by the 1950-53 Korean War. Kwon Joon-oh's mother and father both survived the attack on Hiroshima. The 76-year-old's parents, like others of their generation, could only work by taking on "filthy and dangerous jobs" that the Japanese considered beneath them, he said. Korean victims were also denied an official memorial for decades, with a cenotaph for them put up in the Hiroshima Peace Park only in the late 1990s. Kim Hwa-ja was four on August 6, 1945 and remembers being put on a makeshift horse-drawn trap as her family fled tried to flee Hiroshima after the bomb. Smoke filled the air and the city was burning, she said, recalling how she peeped out from under a blanket covering her, and her mother screaming at her not to look. Korean groups estimate that up to 50,000 Koreans may have been in the city that day, including tens of thousands working as forced labourers at military sites. - Stigma - But records are sketchy. "The city office was devastated so completely that it wasn't possible to track down clear records," a Hiroshima official told AFP. Japan's colonial policy banned the use of Korean names, further complicating record-keeping. After the attacks, tens of thousands of Korean survivors moved back to their newly-independent country. But many have struggled with health issues and stigma ever since. "In those days, there were unfounded rumours that radiation exposure could be contagious," said Jeong Soo-won, director of the country's Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victim Center. Nationwide, there are believed to be some 1,600 South Korean survivors still alive, Jeong said -- with 82 of them in residence at the center. Seoul enacted a special law in 2016 to help the survivors -- including a monthly stipend of around $72 -- but it provides no assistance to their offspring or extended families. "There are many second- and third-generation descendants affected by the bombings and suffering from congenital illnesses," said Jeong. A provision to support them "must be included" in future, he said. A Japanese hibakusha group won the Nobel Peace Prize last year in recognition of their efforts to show the world the horrors of nuclear war. But 80 years after the attacks, many survivors in both Japan and Korea say the world has not learned. - 'Only talk' - US President Donald Trump recently compared his strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "Would he understand the tragedy of what the Hiroshima bombing has caused? Would he understand that of Nagasaki?" survivor Kim Gin-ho said. In Korea, the Hapcheon center will hold a commemoration on August 6 -- with survivors hoping that this year the event will attract more attention. From politicians, "there has been only talk... but no interest", she said. oh-kjk/ceb/djw/jfx
