Gift shopping season is here once again, and you want this year to be different for you and your loved ones. Now if you’ve been to Japan or heard about Japanese culture, you know that they have the most special traditions when it comes to giving gifts.
Aside from buying unique Japanese gifts, here’s your guide to gift giving the Japanese way:
When to Give Japanese Gifts
Japanese people are known to celebrate special occasions like weddings, anniversaries and birthdays through gift giving. But they also celebrate two special dates in the annual calendar— ochugen and oseibo.
Ochugen is essentially a gift given during the summer to symbolise gratitude to people who are older or higher ranking than you. Most of these gifts are food and drinks that can be enjoyed during the hot summer month.
Oseibo, on the other hand, is a winter gift that also shows gratitude as the year ends, and these are usually food, snacks, or items that can be found in the home like toiletries and candles.
Japanese people also make sure to say thank you for gifts they receive from people who are the same age or those they have equal positions with at work. If you receive something from these people, you can give an okaeshi in return, which can be a letter, food, or household item that costs at least half the value of what you received.
How to Give Japanese Gifts
Gift giving is an important task for Japanese people. In fact, they’re very mindful of the price of each gift they give. For instance, a gift given to your parents should be more expensive than what you’ll give to your siblings.
A gift should also be wrapped nicely using decorative paper or a gift bag to make sure that your recipient will feel extra special once you hand your gift. Traditionally, it’s also important to offer your gift using both hands to show respect to the one receiving the gift, especially if he’s older than you.
On the other hand, the person receiving the gift should use both hands to accept it, demonstrating appreciation and respect.
Choosing the Right Gift
While there are no hard and fast rules on what gifts to give your family and friends, the Japanese have some traditions when choosing these gifts that you might also want to follow if you wish to.
For instance, giving gifts in pairs or sets of three and eight is considered lucky. But you should avoid choosing gifts that come in sets of four, as the word “four” sounds the same as “death” in Japanese, which is considered to bring bad fortune.
You’ll also notice that Japanese people never give gifts in red colours as it’s symbolic of funerals. But they choose green because it symbolises good luck.
Finally, Japanese people always go for artisan gifts that are created by local craftsmen because they’re not only unique but also very valuable because they were made with love.
