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Now, the chopsticks crisis

Japan fears shortage of disposable versions

TOKYO: Walk into any Japanese noodle shop or restaurant, and chances are that you will soon be eating with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks from China. But not for long. In a move that has cheered environmentalists but worried restaurant owners, China has slapped a 5 per cent tax on chopsticks over concerns of deforestation.

The Japanese consume 25 billion sets of wooden chopsticks a year — about 200 pairs per person. Some 97 per cent of them come from China.

Chinese chopstick exporters have responded to the tax increase and a rise in other costs by slapping a 30 per cent hike on chopstick prices — with a planned additional 20 per cent hike pending.

The increase has sent Japanese restaurants scrambling to find alternative sources for what are called waribashi in Japanese. "We're not in an emergency situation yet, but there has been some impact," said the director of Japan Chopsticks Import Association.

A pair of waribashi that used to cost a little over 1 yen (less than 45 paise) now is 1.5-1.7 yen. The rising costs of raw wood and transportation because of higher oil prices have also contributed to the rise.

But pretty soon, some fear Japan would not even be able to get expensive chopsticks from China: Japanese newspapers Mainichi and Nihon Keizai reported that China is expected to stop waribashi exports to Japan as early as 2008.

To minimise the damage, Japanese importers now buy more bamboo chopsticks and are considering new suppliers, including Vietnam, Indonesia and Russia.

Convenience store operators try to cushion the impact through cost-cutting in distribution and transportation. "We provide chopsticks only to customers who ask for them," said a spokeswoman for a 7-Eleven convenience store chain.

Disposable chopsticks produced by domestic makers accounted for half the market share until about 20 years ago, but soon cheaper and high quality Chinese counterparts, mostly produced by Japan-China joint ventures, took over. Supporters of the environmental cause see the development as a chance to get rid of disposable chopsticks, which have been linked to deforestation and a wasteful lifestyle.

An Osaka-based restaurant chain operator switched to reusable plastic chopsticks in February at its 760 outlets after testing various materials and a six-month tryout at one-third of its outlets, said its spokesman. The chain still stocks waribashi in case customers have trouble snaring noodles with plastic chopsticks. Customers who bring personal chopsticks get a discount.

A pair of 130-yen (about Rs. 50) plastic chopsticks can be reused some 130 times, whose cost per use matches that of a pair of waribashi, the spokesman said. "So far, we haven't received any complaints. The amount of garbage has decreased significantly, which is definitely better for environment." — AP

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