Another great item we picked-up at Ramen Expo USA 2017 were Akebono Corporation’s Gokubuto (thick) and Tornado chopsticks.

Both chopsticks were amazing! I consider myself an average chopstick user, but with these I felt like I was an expert.

We eat quite a bit of Japanese food, and regularly use chop sticks, but the Gokubuto and Tornado chopsticks shine brightest when eating ramen–or any other dish that requires you to pick-up noodles.

Usually, most people experience the same problems when eating ramen with normal chopsticks:

• The noodles keep slipping off, so by the time you try to put them in your mouth you only have half the noodles you started with; or
• You have to squeeze your chopsticks so tight, you end up getting a cramp before you finish your bowl of ramen

But with the Gokubuto or Tornado chopsticks, we didn’t have these problems.

The Tornado chopsticks were very light and easy to use, and their ability to “grip” the noodles was surprising. It took almost no effort to bring all the noodles to your mouth, and none of them slipped. This meant my mouth was very happy throughout the entire meal. The “tornado-like” grooves in the chopsticks allow the noodles to get caught without slipping–it is a smart design.

The same grasping ability can be found in the Gokubuto chopsticks. And we found that the Gokubuto chopsticks “flat” design made it easy to pick-up all of the bits of noodles, corn, and beef that usually end-up at the bottom of your bowl–so you don’t miss any bites! The chopsticks do feel a bit thicker in your hands–of course!–but they were also very light.

I can’t wait to use these chopsticks again, and I would definitely recommend that any household that eats ramen or other noodle dishes buy some. It will make your meal very enjoyable, and it will make you a chopstick expert!