noun
sticking chopsticks upright in rice; taboo chopstick placement
A breach of Japanese table manners, resembling a funeral ritual where chopsticks are stuck upright in a bowl of rice offered to the deceased. Often listed among 嫌い箸 (disliked chopstick manners).
See also: 一本箸
ご飯に立て箸をするのは、縁起が悪いとされています。
Sticking chopsticks upright in rice is considered unlucky.
子供の頃、立て箸をして祖母に叱られた。
When I was a child, I was scolded by my grandmother for sticking my chopsticks upright in the rice.
一本箸 refers to using a single chopstick to skewer food, another taboo. 立て箸 specifically means sticking both chopsticks upright in rice.
嫌い箸 is a general term for various improper chopstick manners, of which 立て箸 is one example.
Compound of 立て (tate, 'standing') + 箸 (hashi, 'chopsticks'). The reading たてばし results from rendaku voicing of はし to ばし.