Why 1.5 billion people eat with chopsticks | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Transcriber: TED Translators admin

翻訳: Moe Shoji 校正: Misaki Sato

It is such a sort of instrumental part

私たちの食文化では 調理器具として

of our cooking vocabulary, in terms of the utensils.

非常に役に立つものなので

And it was like, that's interesting,

面白いと思いました

there are people who live without chopsticks.

お箸を使わない人たちも いるのかって

[Small Thing.]

［小さな物の大きなアイデア］

[Big Idea.]

Chopsticks are a pair of two long sticks

箸とは ２本の長い棒で

used to eat things with one hand.

片手で物を食べるのに 用いられます

Holding chopsticks is a little bit like holding a pencil,

箸の持ち方は少し 鉛筆の持ち方に似ていますが

except that you have two of them

棒が２本あって

and you move them together in a pincer movement.

ピンセットのように 同時に動かします

Most of them are made out of wood. They're also made out of plastic, bamboo,

木製が多いですが プラスチックや竹

翡翠、金銀や象牙製もあります

jade, gold, silver and even ivory,

though I think that's not so cool anymore.

象牙はもう使われていませんが

Chopsticks are really well designed for eating small bits of food.

箸は細かい食べ物を 食べるのに最適です

They're good for picking up noodles.

麺類を食べるのにも向いているし

If you're skilled, you can eat rice,

箸使いが上手ければ ご飯や

pick up dumplings, pieces of meat.

餃子やひと口大の肉も つかめます

There are some no-nos with chopsticks.

箸にはマナーもあります

You should not use the chopsticks like drumsticks,

ドラムスティックみたいに 使うのはなしです

やりたくなるでしょうけど

which I know is tempting.

You don't want to stick chopsticks into a bowl of rice face-up.

ご飯に垂直に 箸を立ててはいけません

And the reason for that is it actually looks like a bowl of incense,

これは香立てのように見えてしまい 死を連想させるからです

so it sort of echoes death.

Chopsticks are used in a huge portion of the world,

箸は世界で広く使われていて

across much of Asia, about 1.5 billion people

アジア全域の 15億人の人々が

are covered in the chopsticks sphere.

箸の使用地域に暮らしています

Different cultures have slightly different variations of chopsticks.

文化によって使う箸も 少しずつ異なります

Chinese chopsticks will tend to be long and round,

中国の箸は 長くて筒状が多く

Korean chopsticks are flatter and often made of metal

韓国の箸は平たくて 金属製が多いです

and Japanese chopsticks tend to be round

日本の箸は筒状で

and very, very pointy.

とがっていることが多いです

While chopsticks are actually really commonplace

箸は現代のアメリカ社会では

in American society today,

非常によく使われていますが

there was definitely a time in the late 1800s

確実に 19世紀後半には

where this idea that Asian men,

アジア系の男性は

because they ate rice with sticks,

箸で米を食べるため

were of a different quality than American men,

ナイフとフォークで 肉を食べるアメリカ人男性とは

who ate proper meat with a knife and fork.

違うと思われていた 時期がありました

But when China and the United States

中国とアメリカが

began their diplomatic engagement in the 1970s,

1970年代に国交を結ぶと

Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger,

リチャード・ニクソンや ヘンリー・キッシンジャーは

had to practice eating with chopsticks.

箸を使う練習をする 必要が出てきました

What's been really interesting to see

非常に興味深いのは

is that as Asian cuisine has moved from the East into the West,

アジア系の料理が 東洋から西洋に流入すると

chopsticks have become part of the experience.

箸もその一部として 流れ込んだことです

There's evidence of chopsticks as long ago as the Shang dynasty,

箸が使われた痕跡は ３千年前の

which is about 3000 years ago,

殷代にまでさかのぼり

and they loved tripods during the Shang dynasty.

殷代には鼎がよく使われました

So when you cook with these big tripods,

鼎で調理をする時に

chopsticks were actually really useful,

箸がとても役に立ったのです

because it was a way for you to stir and to reach

大きな鍋で 湯が沸騰していても

without getting burned as the water was boiling

やけどをせずに混ぜたり 中の物をつかんだりできたためです

in these really big pots.

Chinese culture has knives and has forks.

中国文化にはナイフも フォークもありました

It uses them in many cases for cooking.

調理の際には 多く使われましたが

But in terms of like what moved into the dining room,

食事の場で用いられるものとしては

it was the chopsticks.

箸が使われたのです

One of the things about Asian cooking

アジア系料理に よく見られるのは

is that it often comes in very small pieces.

ひと口大に 切られていることです

And I think part of that has to do with the fact

私が思うに 小さく切っておくと

that it's actually a lot more energy-efficient

素早く調理できて 省エネだということと

to cook little pieces quickly.

関係しているのでしょう

But also, then you don't have to cut them.

さらに 食べる時に 切る必要がありません

So you have a circular influence,

相互作用したのでしょう

where the type of food that is cooked allows people to use chopsticks,

調理の仕方ゆえに 箸を使うようになり

and then the fact that you have chopsticks influences the food that you can cook.

箸を使うがゆえに 特定の調理法をするというようにね

箸の使用は人々と 食事を共にすることも反映しています

But at the same time, chopsticks reflect the communal nature of eating food.

You'll have these dishes that you put in the middle,

食卓の中央に料理を並べて

家族で分け合うスタイルです

it's very family style.

You go in with your chopsticks,

箸で取り分けて

ご飯の上に置いて それぞれに食べるんです

and you put it on your rice, and then you eat individually.

There's actually a famous sort of legend

ある有名な伝承があります

where everyone has these really, really long chopsticks,

その中では全員が ものすごく長い箸を持っていて

like way too long for them to feed themselves.

自分の口に食べ物を 運べないのです

And so in hell, everyone starves,

地獄では誰もが 飢えてしまいます

because they can't pick up food and put it in their mouths.

自分で食べ物を食べられませんから

But in heaven, people take the same chopsticks

でも天国では 同じ箸を手にしていても

and then feed each other.

互いに食べさせ合うんです