The quest

Reflecting, I supposed it's silly to expect a culture that typically refrains from catering to large groups in their own homes would make it easy to find a set of anything greater than 5 pair. Nevertheless, that's what I did.

I needed two sets of chopsticks. I wanted more than 5 pair. I have searched high and low for a set that I like. It hasn't been easy. I want them to look good with my kitchen at home. I wanted them to be square tipped. I wanted them to match.

Last Saturday, I finally came across 2 styles that I liked at the Jusco in Omura. They had 4 of one and 5 of the other. I decided that Jusco, being a chain, had to have roughly the same products at all of their stores. I bought them, and decided to drive to a couple of other Juscos and just pick up the rest that I needed.

Last Sunday, Jusco #1 in Nagasaki didn't have any of them. In fact, they have an incredibly small selection of chopsticks, in general.

Yesterday, Jusco #2 in Nagasaki taught me that I should do my kitchen in red. This was the second store that I found the same styles that I picked in the right numbers, but in reds.

Today, we went back to Jusco in Omura. They were still sold out of the ones I wanted. In fact, their chopstick selection was SO picked over that I decided I was nuts to even be looking for more. I decided they must be seasonal and I had bought at the end of the season, etc.

After that, we drove up to Sasebo to the big Jusco. Eureka! They have enough to finish one set and 4 more of the other. I was relieved. I was close enough. I was happy.

Having driven all the way up to Sasebo, we decided to wander around. Our last exploration was around Christmastime and we didn't really know what we were looking at. We stumbled across yet another Jusco in the arcade. We didn't know it was there. They had the remaining pairs of chopsticks. My quest was complete.

Now, you may be asking yourself why this is such a big deal. Chopsticks are, what, $5 for a pack of a billion. Well, these are *nice* chopsticks. They are wood. They are meant to be used and reused. They aren't painted so they won't chip like the set we have right now. They are amazing. They're also about 800円 per pair. That's not something to be trifled with when you're buying in quantity. (It was actually pretty funny. When I bought the last ones I needed in the arcade, the woman that rang me up had to do a double take because she was pretty sure there was no way that little could cost that much. She actually declared them expensive and asked if they were a gift. These aren't even the most expensive they have, much less the most expensive I've seen. Somebody other than me has to be buying these things. I guess when they're lumped in with a pile of china for someone you don't notice, though.)