Hey guys! As most of you probably know, there's a custom here in Japan where when you visit
someone’s house for the first time, you bring them a gift. This is something you do
for example if you were going to stay with a host family. A lot of people will bring
extra gifts when they come to visit just in case they get invited to someone else’s
house or something like that. And if you're going to be in Japan for an extended period
of time, not just for a short visit, then that's something you might want to consider
doing, too. There’s all kinds of advice online about
what kind of gifts you should give to Japanese people, but I decided to settle things the
way I like to do them: with numbers and charts! So back last April I asked our Japanese viewers
what they would like foreigners to bring as gifts, and today I'm going to go over their
responses. There were 50 valid responses and since this wasn’t a poll or anything where
people could select one certain answer, some people recommended multiple things, other
people recommended nothing, so the numbers we give you are going to be the number of
people who just came up with it on their own out of 50.
As you can see, 27 people recommended food, 14 recommended a small decorative item, and
11 recommended pictures! And I'm going to explain exactly what all of that means. Most
other things were single comment suggestions. Also, aside from these categories, 34 people
went out of their way to mention that they would like something specific from your country.
The Number 1 answer with 27 people recommending it was food or snacks! And more specifically,
food from your own country that you can’t really get in Japan. So what can you get in
Japan? Most major international food brands, actually. So instead of hitting up Wal-Mart
for snacks, why don't you try going to a smaller, specialized store. Something specific to your
country is the best. So for example, if your country has a lot of good chocolate, or maple
syrup. Those would be good gifts to bring. And unique items are good, too! If you're
from Australia and you have alligator jerky, that'd kinda be a cool gift to bring!
Two people went out of their way to mention that the packaging on something is important,
so if you can find something that's packed in a cute little box, maybe with a bow or
something like that, that'd be a really good idea.
So for example, Jun and I recently received this box of chocolates from France. It's super
cute; it's got a little bow on it. This would be a really good souvenir gift!
Six other people actually recommended against bringing food or snacks because they said
that tastes differ too much in Japan and they're worried they wouldn't like it. But, a total
of nine people said they'd be happy with absolutely anything and it's really the thought that
counts. I personally think bringing food is a good idea and that's usually what I bring
because that's kind of the easiest thing to find as a gift. If you really want to find
something that you think will suit Japanese taste buds, then I would stay away from the
really brightly colored things or things with really strong flavors. Maybe stick to subtle,
refined flavors. I know that sounds kind of stupid, but that's really the best way that
I would be able to explain it.
Chocolates are always good. It's a really easy gift. I would just try to stay away from
American crap chocolates. Don't bring them a Hershey's bar or something.
And if you get the opportunity and have the ingredients, you can also always try making
a meal for them from your country.
The next biggest recommendation with 14 suggestions out of 50 is a small decorative item! What
is a small decorative item, and why do people want it? Some people prefer to have something
that lasts rather than something they'll just eat and throw away, like with food. And why
small? Because a lot of the places here are really small and they don't have a lot of
room to stash a whole bunch of junk. Not that what you're bringing would be junk. But they
don't have room for it. A small decorative item would probably be something that's representative
of your country or state or city, and it's something that the recipient can put on display
and look at later and remember all the fun times they spent with you! For example, I
have a couple things I can show you. I have this hand-carved camel from Tunisia. [Tunisia
camel!] And I have this decorative coin from Dubai, and I have this glass dagger from Afghanistan.
From Russia, you could bring a matryoshka doll, or a little statue of St. Basil’s
Cathedral. From Australia you could bring a little figure of the Sydney opera house,
or you could bring a little kangaroo or koala bear figure.
Something hand-made is completely fine, and in a lot of cases it can make the item seem
cooler or more collectible. And actually, 11 people mentioned that they wouldn’t mind
having something hand-made.
And the third most common suggestion with 11 votes is pictures, a picture book, a calendar,
or even a postcard. Something from your country or hometown. Tell stories about what it's
like living in your hometown. That’s one of the most interesting parts of meeting someone
from another culture, right? You want to know about them and see what it’s like living
on their side of the world!
In general, think about who you’re bringing gifts for. Typically you only give gifts to
people if they do something generous for you or for example if they invite you over to
their home for like a meal. If you’re just visiting Japan for two weeks and you don’t
have plans to meet anyone, you don’t need to bring anything at all. If you’re going
to be studying abroad but you’re not going to be home staying, you still might want to
consider bringing something just in case you happen to meet someone. If you are home staying,
then get to know who's in your host family. If you don't know what to bring for them,
you can always ask. But gifts that are age or station appropriate are always good, so
for example if your host family has a teenager daughter, then you could bring her a necklace
or bracelet from your country. By the way, it’s not uncommon for Japanese women not
to have pierced ears, so if you don’t know then I would not bring earrings. If your host
family has a housewife and you know she does a lot of cooking, then you can always bring
her something for the kitchen. I know how sexist that sounds but really, it's okay.
Jun brought back a can opener from America, because he was literally using one of those
old stabby can openers to open Leo’s food. And I mean, think about it. If you’re cooking
every single day, would you rather use this boring old spatula, or would you rather use
this spatula I got from France.
Okay, and now for some gifts you shouldn’t bring. Meats, plant seeds, drugs, because
all of those are illegal to take across international borders and you probably won’t even get
them through the airport. Also, drugs are just illegal, period.
Keep in mind that for ALL gifts, do not bring anything that's too expensive because they're
going to feel uncomfortable accepting it and then they're going to feel pressured to reciprocate
it. I mean, if you have something really cool at the dollar store in your country, then
even that is fine. I’d say a good, safe gift is maybe anywhere from $5-$20, or whatever
the purchasing power equivalent of that amount is in your country. If you’re bringing something
for your boss, or if someone really went out of their way to help you a lot, then you can
bring something that's a little more expensive. But don’t put yourself out about it and
don't spend outside of your means. No one wants you to get stressed out just thinking
about a gift. It's really okay, even if you can't come with anything at all. And if after
all these suggestions you still can't come up with something, I usually default to Ferrero
Rocher chocolates. That totally sounds like I’m plugging a product, but I’m not. You
CAN get them here in Japan, too, but they're just delicious and everyone loves them. I
think that's an all right gift to five. And Ferrero Rocher, you should totally like pay
me now, or... send me some chocolates.
When you do hand someone a gift, wait until you get seated in their home and then present
it to them and say, “つまらないものですが” which means, “This is really boring but
here you go.” Or if you can't remember that, you can just say, “おみやげです”
which means, “This is a souvenir.” Or if you can't speak Japanese at all, you can
just say, "Here! Gift!" プレゼントです。
And that’s it! But BEWARE, one word of caution. You can get locked into lifelong gift giving
battles with people. Jun's aunt and my grandma are in a gift giving battle. They’ve never
met. I don’t even remember how they started giving each other gifts, but every time I
get off the plane in one or the other country I have a gift for one of them. They're on
round 4 of a 4 year gift giving battle now.
Anyway, I hope this was all helpful and you feel less stressed out about giving gifts
now. If you do have experiences with giving gifts, maybe you can tell us about it in the
comments so other people can read about them and see how things went for you. And thank
you for watching! I'll see you guys later!