▷Cinematography： Rngrang, Hungul
▷Interview Appearance： Heydi, Mijung（Rngrang’s mother）、Sobay, Mona（Rngrang’s grand mother）

*Numbers are timing indications in the video

01:13 你準備好了嗎？

01:13 Ready?

01:14 我好了。
01:14 Okay.

01:16 你對於傳統太魯閣族用手吃飯，可以說明用手吃飯的情形嗎？

01:16 Tell us about the traditional hand-eating practices of the traditional Truku people.

01:24 我先介紹我自己的背景。
01:24 Let me start with my background.

01:29 我的名字叫做Heydi．Mijung，在我們太魯閣族傳統命名方式，後面是冠上父親的名字，因為我們的族群是以父系社會，所以我的名字後面接上我父親的名字。
01:29 My name is Heydi Mijung, and the traditional naming convention of our Toruku people is to put the father’s name on the back. The Toruku are a patrilineal society, so my name has my father’s name behind it.

01:39 我從小在深山裡面長大，我們吃飯的時候，在吃飯的地方會放著很大的弧形（底）鍋，我們稱大鍋子是liwas，還有煮湯的鍋子，我們要食用的器皿（盛裝食物的物品）都很大。
01:39 I grew up in the mountains from a very young age. When we would eat in our house, we would put a big round-bottomed pot on the table. We call that big pot or pot in which we boil soup “liwas.” The dishes we serve our food on are all very large.
01:51 由於以前很窮的關係，所以器皿很少，所以我們只會使用一鍋很大的大鍋子當作我們的裝食物的器皿。
01:51 We were originally very poor and didn’t have any dishes at all, so we only used one big pot as a dish.

02:02 那你有跟其他人共享一大盤（米）飯嗎？

02:02 Do you all eat the rice together on a big plate?

02:07 我們全部都會聚集起來一起坐在大鍋子共享食物，全家人會一起吃飯，每一家都是這樣子。
02:07 We all sat around the big pot and ate together as a family. Every family is like that.

02:13 比如說？

02:13 Can you tell us more about that?

02:14 當我們把小米煮好的時候，之後會放入野菜，全部加入在小米鍋裡面，之後我們等鍋裡的食物放涼，等食物放涼一點的時候，全家的人就會來吃飯。從年紀最大的長者開始，阿公、阿嬤，之後爸爸與媽媽，再到我們年紀最小的小孩子，等大家都聚集在一起，從家裡年紀最大的長者開始吃第一口，之後才會到我們小孩子吃飯，小孩子不可以亂抓食物，都要等年紀最大的老人家開始進食，我們才會一起共享食物。
02:14 We would boil the millet and then put all the vegetables in the millet pot. Then we wait for the food in the pot to cool down before we eat it. We eat first with my grandfather and grandmother, who are the elders of the family, then my father and mother, and then we, the youngest children, eat in that order. When the family is gathered, the elders take the first bite, and then the children begin to eat. The children were not allowed to touch the food out of the blue. Only after the elders of the family began to eat could we eat our food.

03:13 我們太魯閣族從吃飯就同時在教導我們要懂得敬老尊賢的觀念，除了是要教育小孩，也是因為食物剛煮好會太燙，小朋友會燙到手，因為我們以前住在深山沒有醫生可以就醫，第二個要教導禮貌（餐桌的禮儀規範），要有規則，從阿公阿嬤，爸爸媽媽，最後到小孩跟小孩，就是這樣從年紀最大到年紀最小，除了年紀的順序規定，再來食物最好的部位要留給大人吃，我們傳統吃飯都是要這樣遵守。
03:13 Our Truku meals are also a place to teach respect for our elders. This was not only to teach discipline to the children, but also to prevent them from burning their hands because the food was hot when it was freshly prepared. We used to live deep in the mountains where there were no doctors. And also to teach them etiquette. In other words, there should be rules for eating. Grandfathers and grandmothers, fathers and mothers, and children have seniority from the …… oldest to the youngest. And the best part of the food is eaten by the adults. This is the traditional Truku way of eating.

03:41 你有什麼食物是用手抓的吃飯？

03:41 What kind of food do you eat with your hands?

03:41 全部都是用手吃飯。菜、小米飯、地瓜、芋頭，我們太魯閣族以前都吃這些，這些食物都是用手吃飯的，還有一個是玉米。如果有煮湯的話，老人家會用一個很大的木頭湯匙把湯用涼，以前我們只會使用兩種食物器皿，一個是大鍋子，一個是木頭製作的大湯匙。
03:41 We use our hands to eat any kind of food. Vegetables, millet rice, sweet potatoes, taro, the Truku used to eat these things. They used to eat everything with their hands. And corn, too. When there was soup, the old people would use a big wooden spoon to cool it down. In the old days, there were only two kinds of dishes: a big pot and a big wooden spoon.

04:26 所以除了湯之外，其他食物都是用手抓來吃飯？

04:26 So you mean that everything was eaten by hand, except for the soup?

04:27 對。我在要拿肉的時候，也是不能隨便亂拿，我們如果今天煮了一鍋有肉湯，老人家會去拿香蕉葉，如果沒有香蕉葉其他葉子也可以代替當作盤子。當肉湯煮好，老人家就會分肉放在每個人準備好的香蕉葉子上面，之後我們就開始用手抓來吃，大家就會一起吃飯。以前要吃飯之前，我們都要把手洗好，如果沒有洗手就吃飯，老人家會生氣，他們會說手很髒不能吃飯，一定要把手洗乾淨我們才可以用手吃飯。
04:27 Yes. When you take meat, you can’t take it without permission. For example, on days when meat soup was served, the elderly would go and get banana leaves. If there are no banana leaves, they use other leaves as plates. When the meat soup is cooked up, the elderly divide the meat among all the banana leaves they have prepared, and then everyone eats it together with their hands. Before eating, they wash their hands properly. If you don’t wash your hands, the old people get angry and say, “Don’t eat with dirty hands. If you don’t wash your hands clean, you can’t eat with your hands.

05:18 像是你旁邊的肉，你也是用手吃嗎？

05:18 Do you eat the meat there with your hands?

05:19 這個一定要用手，這個是山羌肉和猴子肉。
05:19 You must use your hands for this. This is the meat of a Reeves’ muntjac and a monkey.

05:34 為什麼我說我們太魯閣族一定會用手吃呢？第一個用手的話，老人家說不會浪費食物，一丁點肉都不浪費，如果說我們要拿最裡面的部位，像是動物的頭裡面有腦隨，老人家會拿樹枝給他搓出來，除了腦隨要用樹枝，其他都是用手吃飯，我們沒有筷子。
05:34 Why do you think we Truku people always eat with our hands? First of all, the elderly people say, if you eat with your hands, you never waste food, not even a little bit of meat. For example, when taking the innermost part of the animal, like the brain, the elderly used a tree branch to take it out, but except for those times, we eat everything with our hands. We don’t use chopsticks.

05:55 所以用手吃飯是代表不浪費嗎？

05:55 Does eating with hands mean that you never waste food?

05:56 絕對不會浪費食物。就像是我剛剛煮好的肉，比如這邊（牙齒的碎肉）還有一點點，我就會這樣用手剝開，你看看還很新鮮，連隙縫的地方都可以用手取出來，我剛剛都有洗手了。
05:56 We never waste food. For example, the meat I just cooked. There is still a little bit of meat left in this part of the teeth, but if I peel it off with my hands like this, you see, it is still fresh, right? If you use your hands, you can take out the meat in the crevices. I washed my hands properly just now.

06:03 我現在拿的這個山羌肉，我就會用手這樣剝開他的部位。
06:03 The flesh of the Reeves’ muntjac I have now, I use my hands to peel it like this.

06:44 所以是靠手跟嘴巴去吸取肉？才不會浪費食物？

06:44 So if you use your hands and mouth to eat the meat, the meat will not be wasted?

06:46 對，都要靠手和嘴部的運動。
06:46 Yes. We use our hands and our mouths.

06:52 你們會怕燙嗎？

06:52 Don’t you mind if the food is hot?

06:53 以前老人家不會吃很燙的食物，他們會用很大的木頭湯勺把食物從湯裡面拿起來，他們會先放著，差不多涼一點之後，才會吃。
06:53 People in the past didn’t eat very hot food. They would take the food out of the soup with a big wooden spoon and leave it there until it cooled down a bit before eating.

07:05 以前你很小的時候，看到大家用手吃飯是很平常的事情嗎？不會覺得很髒？

07:05 When you were a child, was it normal for everyone to eat with their hands? Did you ever feel dirty?

07:10 沒有髒。
07:10 It’s not dirty.

07:14 你會把肉放在嘴巴絞碎，在用手放入小孩的嘴裡餵食嗎？

07:14 Do you chew meat with your mouth and then pick it up and put it in your child’s mouth to feed him?

07:17 以前沒有奶水的時候，他們會把地瓜先放入自己的嘴巴裡面咬碎，一直到有地瓜變成黏稠狀，再餵給小孩子吃，一樣也是活到九十歲，一百多歲，像是我媽媽也是快九十歲了，他以前還是嬰兒的時候也是這樣長大的，從嘴裡的食物餵食給小孩吃。那是因為母親兩、三個月後沒有奶水的時候，會把地瓜放入自己的嘴裡混合著自己的口水變成黏稠的狀態，就餵給自己的小孩吃，就像我這樣的動作，從我的嘴巴放入小朋友的嘴巴裡。
07:17 In the old days, when I couldn’t breastfeed, I would put a sweet potato in my mouth and chew it until it turned to mush and then feed it to my child. This is how we all live to 90, 100+ years old. My mother is almost 90 years old, and when she was just a baby, she grew up with food chewed in her mouth like this. When they couldn’t produce milk after a few months, they would put a sweet potato in their mouths, add saliva and make it sludge, and then feed it to their children. They would take it out of their mouths like this and put it in the child’s mouth.

08:31 所以用手吃飯都是大家聚在一起？

08:31 When you eat, do you gather to eat?

08:35 全部都會一起這樣吃，（會拿自然植物的香蕉葉當作盤子，再開始用手吃飯？）對，以前我們都是這樣的。
08:35 We all eat like this. (Interviewer: You take a banana leaf and use it as a plate and eat with your hands?) Yes, that’s how we used to eat all the time.

08:49 沒有用手吃飯，是不是受到日本殖民的影響？

08:49 Is it because of Japanese colonization that people stopped eating with their hands?

08:58 也是這樣，那也是有一半的影響，怎麼說呢？我是聽我奶奶說過，還有我的外婆，還有很多老人家在說這個事情，我們小朋友都會在火堆旁邊聽，因為以前我們沒有文字，所以會很認真聽老人家所說的一切，記憶力要很強。從日本人來臺灣統治的時候，開始會宣導要使用碗和筷子，日本人跟我們說：「用手吃飯很髒！」他們開始會在部落裡面宣導衛生觀念，要使用筷子吃飯，可是我們太魯閣族的老人家都不習慣用筷子吃飯，我們老人家很注重乾淨，因為我們吃飯之前會把手洗乾淨，我們知道乾淨在哪一方面，我們也知道吃什麼食物手就要怎麼保持乾淨，這樣才可以吃飯。但是日本人就不一樣，其實我們的飲食文化本來就不一樣。
08:58 That’s half of the reason. What can I say. …… My paternal grandmother and maternal grandmother and a lot of other old people were talking about this, and we kids were listening to them by the fire. The Truku people had no written language, so we had to listen very carefully and remember everything the old people said. When the Japanese came to rule Taiwan, they instructed us to use bowls and chopsticks. The Japanese told us that eating with our hands was dirty. They told us to eat with chopsticks to promote tribal hygiene, but our elderly Truku people are not used to eating with chopsticks. The elderly were very concerned about hygiene. We washed our hands before we ate, and we knew how to keep them clean and how to keep our hands clean when we ate each dish. But the Japanese are different. Our food culture is basically different from that of the Japanese people.

10:08 日本人會提供碗和筷子給你們使用嗎？

10:08 Did the Japanese provide you with bowls and chopsticks?

10:12 日本人他們會來每一家看有沒有用手吃飯，日本人沒有提供我們筷子和碗，我聽老人家說，他們自己會去拿細的木頭或是竹子削成筷子的形狀，來代替手吃飯。
10:12 The Japanese went around to each household to see if anyone was eating with their hands. An elderly person told me that the Japanese did not provide chopsticks or bowls, so instead of eating with their hands, they used thin branches or bamboo shaved into the shape of chopsticks.

10:26 如果用手吃飯，會被處罰嗎？

10:26 Is it punishable to eat with one’s hands?

10:28 不會罰我們，只會用說的，督處我們不要用手吃飯，只有宣導我們，不會用暴力，只會勸導而已。如果看到日本人來，我們會趕快去找木頭來，就像是用筷子吃飯一樣。
10:28 No, we were never punished. I was only told or warned not to eat with my hands. We were told with words, not with violence. When we saw the Japanese coming, we would rush to find a branch to make it look like we were eating with chopsticks.

10:51 有聽過為什麼日本人禁止我們用手吃飯的原因是什麼嗎？

10:51 Have you ever heard about why the Japanese banned eating by hand?

10:55 因為髒，用手吃飯看起來很髒，這就是為什麼我們原住民以前被人叫做「番仔」，他們叫我們「番」，從以前就是這樣稱呼我們。
10:55 Because they believed that it’s dirty and makes you look dirty. That’s why we natives used to be called “Huan-a” (translator’s notes: a derogatory term once used for natives). Japanese people used to call us “Hoan.”

11:03 除了說我們用手吃飯會髒和不衛生？還有什麼？

11:03 Aside from being told that eating with your hands was dirty and unsanitary, was there anything else?

11:11 對，我聽老人家說過，日本人說我們用手吃飯會很髒，日本人怎麼會知道我們的文化，我們是很乾淨的，我們要怎麼用怎麼吃的時候，那個是日本人不了解的事。我聽過老人家說日本人會使用暴力的原因，以前我們老人家在幫日本人工作，如果他看到我們原住民沒有在工作或是懶惰，日本人會家家戶戶的巡邏，被看見沒有去工作的話，日本人會把他從家裡拖出來直接打：「為什麼懶惰？為什麼沒有工作？你馬上去工作！」
11:11 Yes, I heard from some elderly people that the Japanese said we were dirty for eating with our hands, but what would the Japanese know about our culture? We are very clean and the Japanese don’t even know how we eat. I once heard an elderly person talk about why the Japanese are so violent. They would drag him out of the house and beat him. They would ask, “Why are you lazy? Why aren’t you working? Work now!” He said.

12:08 日本人對於用手吃飯都是用勸導的方式來改善我們吃飯的衛生？

12:08 So the Japanese just verbally persuaded them to stop eating with their hands and to improve the hygiene of their food?

12:12 對，都是勸導而已，雖然現在大家都在用碗筷，我還是不習慣，在我們太魯閣族的文化裡面，用手吃飯吃了很乾淨，為什麼我說很乾淨的意思？因為吃東西不會掉下來，以前我們沒有很多樣的東西可以吃，所以東西很珍貴，萬一吃東西掉下來，老人家會生氣。所以用手抓著吃飯，會很乾淨也不會浪費食物，就是這樣。
12:12 Yes, it was all verbal persuasion. Now everyone uses chopsticks and bowls, but I still can’t get used to it. First of all, in our Truku culture, eating with your hands is clean. The reason is that the food doesn’t spill. And in the old days, when food was scarce and very precious, the elderly would get angry if you spilled anything. So if you eat with your hands, it’s cleaner and you don’t waste food.

12:47 上次你提到說用手吃飯也是情感的連結？

12:47 You mentioned before that eating with your hands creates an emotional connection, right?

12:48 對，你們試試看用手吃飯的感覺，手抓跟湯匙的差別，那種冷熱之間不一樣，比如說使用湯匙和筷子是沒有感情的，你用手吃飯試試看，有溫度，除了有溫度之外，吃任何東西進去嘴巴都會很香。
12:48 Yes, when you eat with your hands, the difference between eating with a spoon and eating with your hands is the difference in how you feel about cold and heat. Using a spoon or chopsticks is not an emotional act, but when you eat with your hands, there is warmth there. And it’s not just the warmth, it’s also the fact that whatever you eat tastes so much better.

13:18 用手吃飯可以感受彼此之間的情感會更深？

13:18 Does that mean that when we eat with our hands, we can understand each other’s feelings more deeply?

13:26 對，如果我們給小朋友吃，他的飯粒掉在嘴巴附近，我會用手撫摸他的臉把他剩下在臉上的飯菜放入我的嘴巴裡面一起吃，老人家說這是彼此之間很親密的關係，這也是我們吃飯的文化。
13:26 Yes, when you give rice to a child, if there is a grain of rice near his mouth, you touch his face with your hand, put the rice on his face in your mouth, and eat together, right? Older people used to say that this is a very intimate relationship. This is also our eating culture.

14:00 用手吃有溫度，又香。
14:00 Eating with hands is warm and tasty.

14:20 我們老人家在用糯米的時候，也是從米飯一直反覆去搓捏，會越用越黏稠，也是代表團結的象徵。小米的話，我們會煮小米稀飯，把小米放入大鍋子裡面，煮好之後，我們會用手指從鍋子的邊緣開始吃，不能從鍋子的中間開始吃，老人家會生氣，我們會從鍋邊開始用手指頭刮下來吃，一直到吃完整鍋小米稀飯（＃15:05示範用手指頭如何吃小米稀飯）。
14:20 When the elderly cook glutinous rice, they rub and knead it many times, making it stickier and stickier. And this is a symbol of unity. For millet, they make millet porridge. When the millet is cooked, you eat it from the edge of the pot using your fingers. Don’t eat from the middle of the pot. The elderly people will get angry. Take it from the edge of the pot with your fingers and eat it until all the millet porridge in the pot is gone.

15:27 我們在吃小米稀飯也不會掉下來，你看看我的手部動作，就是這樣吃，一隻手放入嘴巴裡面，另一隻手會放在嘴巴下面，如果小米不小心掉下手上，我們會這樣去舔乾淨，雙手都會使用，這樣才不會浪費食物。
15:27 This way I don’t spill the millet porridge when I eat it. Watch my hand movement. Like this, I put one hand in my mouth and bring the other hand to the bottom of my mouth. If millet accidentally falls onto my hand, I can lick it off like this. I use both hands to eat so I don’t waste food.

15:45 對於過去用手吃飯，有沒有印象很深刻的回憶？

15:45 Do you have any striking memories of when you used to eat with your hands?

15:59 我覺得用手吃飯很溫暖，因為是大家會聚集在一起吃飯那是給我的回憶，我很懷念那個時候，又溫暖，大家一起吃飯的時候又互相給自己的食物，「你先吃，剩一點點的。」「你先吃，因為你是女孩子！」我們看老人家，如果他還沒吃飽就舀飯放在他的盤子上，以前就是這樣，會彼此照顧對方，真的很溫暖。
15:59 It was very warm to eat with your hands. I have fond memories of us all getting together and eating together, and I miss those days and the warmth. When we were eating together, we would say to each other, “You eat first, there’s only a little left,” or “You’re a girl, you eat first!”. We would also look at the elderly and if they didn’t look like they had enough to eat, we would put some food on their plate. We used to take care of each other in that way, and it was really warm.

16:40 一直到什麼時候，你們就習慣用碗筷？

16:40 When did you start using dishes?

16:47 我一直都在用手吃飯，其實碗筷我都有買，我就擺著放而已，我還是習慣用手親自餵所有的孩子吃飯，我是怕小孩子會卡到食物，像是吃芋頭和地瓜很硬的食物，我都會用我的嘴巴咬碎在用手餵給你們吃。
16:47 I’ve always eaten with my hands, but I actually bought the dishes and chopsticks. I just leave them there all the time. I still try to have all my children eat with their hands. I am afraid they will choke on hard foods like taro or sweet potato. I use my mouth to chew the food and then feed it to them with my hands.

17:47 因為我都會用手吃飯，我的孫子也是跟我一樣，在家都是用手吃飯，我會叫他們先洗手，我的孫子都會跟我說：「外婆，用手餵好好吃，我不要用湯匙。」我會把飯參入一點點鹽巴用手混合，他們很喜歡吃，全部都吃完。
17:47 Because I eat with my hands, my grandchildren eat with their hands at home, just like me. I always tell them to wash their hands. They all say, “Grandma, I don’t want to use a spoon because it tastes better eaten with my hands. I put a little salt in the rice and mix it with my hands, and they love it and eat it all.

18:17 關於手，手的活動力很快，很靈活，要是飯掉下來手會馬上接住，不會掉食物。我們吃飯也不能狼吞虎嚥，你沒有關注到所有人的話，只在乎你自己有沒有吃飽的話，也是沒有禮貌的一種表現，老人家要是看到你這樣，直接把你踢出去，為什麼呢？你不尊重食物，或者是你自私的行為，在吃的方面都可以看得出來。所以我們小時候以前吃飯的時候，會遠遠的坐，吃飯的時候不能發出聲音，慢慢的吃完。
18:17 Hands move very fast and very well, so if the rice falls, you can catch it right away with your hands and it won’t spill on the floor. When you eat, don’t gobble your food. If you only care about whether you are full or not, without paying attention to others, it is very disrespectful. If an elderly person sees you like that, they will probably kick you out. Why? Because not taking care of food and selfish behavior shows up in the way a person eats. So when we were children, we sat at a distance from each other when we ate, and we ate slowly and without making noise.

Interview with grandma about the ban on eating with hands during the Japanese period.

Sobay, Mona：日本時期殖民台灣的時候，我們太魯閣族很多的部落都被遷移下山，統一住在一起管理我們，他們會到每家每戶來看我們的衛生環境，看見我們會用手吃飯，但沒有用過暴力來懲罰我們禁止用手吃飯。日本人會用「勸導」的方式，也會教導我們筷子和碗該如何使用，然後再叫我們自己用木頭來製作碗筷。
當時日本人統治台灣有40到50年的期間，這段期間因為日本人的長期勸導和衛生觀念，我們在吃飯方式就開始用木頭做碗，也會用竹子還有木頭製作筷子，都是用自然材料來製作生活上的用品，當時日本人來部落宣導的時候，他們講的都很有道理，也不用暴力也不強制我們一定要馬上做改變，我們才會去接受他們的衛生觀念，雖然我們有了這些可以裝食物的器皿，但是我們還是不習慣，十個手指頭比較好用，因為用手吃飯很有味道，會讓食物變很香，我到現在還是會用手吃飯。

Sobay, Mona(祖母): When the Japanese colonized Taiwan, many of our Truku communities were moved down the mountain to live together for easier management. The Japanese came to visit us house by house to see our hygiene. When they found us eating with our hands, instead of violently forbidding us to do so, they taught us how to use chopsticks and bowls, and then verbally “persuaded” us to make our own chopsticks and bowls out of wood. Because of the long-term Japanese persuasion and promotion of hygiene during the 40 or 50 years of Japanese rule in Taiwan at that time, we began to make our bowls for eating out of wood and our chopsticks out of bamboo or wood. All daily necessities were made from materials available from nature. When Japanese people visited the villages for guidance, their stories made sense and they did not force us to do anything violent, so we came to accept their concept of hygiene. Even though there were dishes to serve the food, we were not familiar with them, so it was easier for us to use our hands. I still eat with my hands because it is more flavorful and tastes even better when eaten with my hands.

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Editor’s Comment

Although the exact number is currently unknown, a decent number of elderly people in Rngrang’s family as well as in Rngrang’s homeland, the Dowmung village, still eat by hands as their main eating behavior. Rngrang herself also still often eats by her hands, since her parents often prepare food from the mountains.

In addition to the Rngrang clan mentioned in this article, I was also able to speak with a Truku woman in her late 80s who can still speak Japanese fluently (*Note that communication in Japanese was correct about 70%.) At that time, the woman made a statement in the context of “I was corrected by the Japanese using corporal punishment for eating with my hands,” which may have been a different form of violent correction than the “persuasion” referred to by the Rngrang clan. At the same time, when the women disclosed the Japanese violence, the family controlled it, and as soon as they did, a turn of events occurred in which the women began to praise the colonial period and the behavior of the Japanese, and it is questionable whether the people under the colonial rule have been able to speak the truth without reading the Japanese mind.

In the Amis tribe living in the Hualien area adjacent to the Truku tribe, the same hand-eating culture remained until about 50-60 years ago, and I heard that they shared rice from a single plate or used leaves instead of containers for hand-eating. Also said that traditional foods in rituals related to shamanism are still eaten by hands.

When I visited the Truku Visitor Center, which is located near the Xincheng or Hualien train stations and is open to tourists, I was told by all the staff working there that “there is no one who eats by hand in Taiwan today. The indigenous also don’t do it anymore. The hand-eating culture disappeared decades ago.” And Japanese lady, who has lived in Taiwan for a long time, was suspicious of my research on Taiwanese hand-eating culture, as she took it as a discriminatory viewpoint. Hand-eating culture is perceived in a variety of ways by different people, and this kind of discrepancy can sometimes occur. Even though I may think I am covering hand-eating as a positive aspect of the humankind, it could suddenly turn to be a subject that should be very careful to handle.

In Taiwan today, most people have no doubt that “Taiwan = chopstick-eating culture,” and it is not wrong if you look at the majority. However, we should be aware of the fact that there are people (clans) who still use hand-eating as their main means of eating even in 2024. In particular, it would be appreciated if an institution such as the Truku Visitor Center, which bears the culture of the Truku people and transmits it to the world, would take note of the Hand-Eating culture of today’s minorities, which is like a fading light. It is too sad that people hears about it as if it were a “vanished culture” because majorities “don’t know” or “haven’t seen” it. (In particular, when I cover hand-eating culture, I often find that the process of making a dish is well documented and described, but when it comes to how it is eaten, there are no records at all. *In the case of cultural anthropological interviews, since researchers join in sharing food with the local people, sometimes difficult to record eating scene objectively.)

Lastly, I would like to make a firm note here about the Japanese violence that has dealt a blow to the Taiwanese indigenous culture by means of forced conversions and difficulties in passing on their culture. Eating-with-hands: as one of the symbols and realities of this history.(Aki Yahata)