I found myself staring at the chopsticks (which we never use) that come with sushi from Tienda Inglesa, wondering what this message in Japanese might say. Something inspirational like
?
Bon appétit? Buen provecho? Happy sushi?
So I did the obvious (which nobody could do a few years ago) and ask ChatGPT (GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, but you knew that).
Me: What does this say in English?
ChatGPT: The Japanese characters in the image are written vertically and read as: おはし (ohashi). In English, this means: “Chopsticks.” Let me know if you’d like help with pronunciation or more context!
Uh, no. I’m good….
Mystery solved.
As I am sure you found out, and ChatGPT confirms:
The text on the wrapper in the image says:
おてもと (otemoto)
This is a polite Japanese word that usually appears on disposable chopstick sleeves.
It literally means “at hand” or “nearby,” but in this context it’s a humble/polite expression referring to chopsticks placed at your hand’s reach.
So, when you see おてもと printed like this, it simply means:
👉 Chopsticks (for your use).