Japanese character in a Chinese game? There shouldn't be any confusion over what chopsticks are...
In any event, I think it's something like how different people show friendship in different ways. Like some people will hand you a beer as soon as you come over to their house and drag you to the couch to watch the football game, or some people will get some tea off the kettle and take you to the living room for a chat before going elsewhere, and others are just 'let's go play Playstation' and take you to their room with no snacks or drinks at all.
Akagi is just bowls of plain white rice with no drinks.