As for the slipperiness of the Japanese, tapered, sticks they make ones with lines engraved into the surface to minimize that problem.

You might mention that the nice laquered wooden ones (they really last a long time if you take care to hand-wash gently), and often plastic ones too, often have little ridges on the tip to keep food from slipping– these are great for intermediate chopstick users, or anyone at all eating something with a smooth sauce!

I was a bit surprised you didn’t mention length, though, since the article is nice and thorough! I learned all my chopstick knowledge in Japan, so it’s possible that slightly different lengths are preferred in different countries (like metal chopsticks being the norm in Korea), but the rule I learned is

length = (distance from thumb to forefinger) * 1.5
where that distance is direct, not tracing the angle, so the third side of the triangle your outstretched thumb and forefinger would make.

(Another way is from your wrist to the tip of your middle finger, + 3 cm.)

I couldn’t find a website in English very easily, but this Japanese site has an easy calculator, plus instructions with visuals that bridge the language gap pretty well, I thought!: http://homepage2.nifty.com/r2o/chopstick.html (the little round button that says 計算 is “calculate”).

Now I need to pick up a pair of cooking chopsticks… they’re the best!

-the pretty cheap wooden ones with lovely designs are nice for a period but the paint chips and the idea of an imported product chipping into my food is kinda gross.
-some of the painted chopsticks have little ridges at the end that grabs the food better than smoother surfaces and would be good for a beginner
-by far the worst i’ve tried have been metal. the colden stainless steel in mouth should only happen at the dentist’s office. easiest to clean though.
-my favorite at the moment are square, wooden, unpainted. yes, the laminate on them smelled funky in the beginning but has since worn off considerably. i like the warmth of them w/food, paint doesn’t chip in the dishwasher, and they don’t hold any odors.

i’d like to find an organic wooden brand that can guarantee there aren’t any funky laminate chemicals on there.

I believe that chopsticks with the tapered and pointed end are Japanese chopsticks, while chopsticks with a thick and blunt end are Chinese. I could be wrong but it’s something I heard a while back.

Another great thing about chopsticks, is when you’re done with dinner, you can use them to play pick-up-sticks ;)

I have been washing forks for the better part of 50 years. In the grand scheme of life’s challenges, cleaning between the tines of a fork is pretty low on the list.

I agree there are many benefits to using chopsticks. But I think you’re stretching a tad with that argument!