Japan's oldest surviving chopsticks date from the late Yayoi period and were originally sacred implements for offering food to the gods.

Unlike today's familiar paired design, these early chopsticks were fashioned from a single thin piece of bamboo, folded in half. Whilst there are various theories, the bamboo radical in the kanji for "chopsticks" (箸) is said to reflect this ancient bamboo heritage.

Drawing from this history and functional reasoning, we chose bamboo for THE Chopsticks.

Though we use chopsticks almost unconsciously, they perform remarkably diverse tasks – gripping, pinching, cutting, piercing, breaking, separating, and mixing – adapting to each food's unique shape, size, and texture. Bamboo's strength and flexibility allow for fine, tapered tips that accomplish these movements effortlessly.

Moreover, bamboo can grow tens of metres in just three months, making it a truly sustainable natural resource worthy of "THE" designation.

Bamboo's sole weakness is its absorbency, which can lead to mould. We've overcome this through urushi lacquering, with each piece individually hand-brushed rather than sprayed for the final coat.

Bamboo chopsticks actually have a correct orientation – the strong outer skin forms the front face, and when properly aligned, the pair fits together seamlessly for optimal food handling. We've added a subtle notch to the top surface of the skin side, making correct positioning immediately apparent.

The bamboo base is crafted by Yamachiku Co., Ltd. in Kumamoto, specialists in bamboo chopsticks. Using only hand-selected bamboo, they uniformly cut varying thicknesses, shape, and finish everything in-house as dedicated bamboo chopstick manufacturers.The urushi lacquer application comes from Shitsurindo Co., Ltd. in the Kawada district, renowned for Echizen lacquerware with over 1,500 years of history. Since their founding in 1793, they've preserved traditional techniques, using no chemical coatings and finishing each piece individually by hand-brushing.