Gifting Culture
The Japanese are a formal bunch. Even when being casual, they’re dressed up, groomed, and polished. This is not the land of PJ-wearing Walmart shoppers.
Part of that formality is the giving and receiving of gifts, or omiyage. It’s not the cost or size of the gift, it’s the act of thinking of others before you think of yourself. If you haven’t seen someone in a long time, you bring a gift. If you’re being invited to someone’s house, you bring a gift. If the purpose of the visit is a celebration—even a small one, then, you guessed it, bring a gift.
Often, these gifts represent somewhere the gifter has recently visited, or something unique they have done.
As a foreigner, if you can gift something that is local to your home town or state. That’s considered extra special. It shows you thought about the other person even before you even got on the plane. Again, it doesn’t need to be expensive or big. For example, if you’re flying out of SeaTac, make a stop at the “Made in Washington Store” and get a bunch of Washington-branded cork-pullers or small jars of blackberry jam. Giving a unique gift to your new Japanese friends as a mark of someone who knows and appreciates the culture
