Haushi, chopsticks, are tableware, but they have symbolic caning for the Japanese. It is said that the Japanese start and end their lives with chopsticks. At each turning point in life, there is a ceremony using chopsticks. A baby and its parents celebrate me 100th day after its birth as kuizome (first meal) and the baby meets chopsticks. Other celebratory hashi are enmusubi (match-making) hashi, meoto (married couple) hashi at the wedding, and chõju (longevity) hashi. In Buddhism, when one dies, his/her family members moistens the lips of the deceased with matsugo no mizu (last water before death) applied using ...