The Great Omiyage Thread

[nice gaijin]

Reading some of the recent and not-so-recent posts, I've noticed a smattering of omiyage (souvenir gift) related questions, and since it is such an important part of Japanese culture, especially in making first impressions, I figured it deserved a definitive thread for all questions and ideas for great gifts.

One of my own motive for creating this thread is that I'll be studying at Waseda in Tokyo for a year starting this fall, and would like some ideas for gifts to give to my future host family, as well as the families of friends with whom I stayed during my trip last year. I don't wish to give the same gifts, so I have to mix things up a bit.

I found that items unique to my area or specialty items went over especially well. My gifts last year included:

• a bottle of Wine from my home state
• a large bag of Pistachios
• a music magazine
• and lots of different kinds of chocolates from a local confectionary, which served as both packaged omiyage for the people I felt especially indebted to, and a single-serving gift to casual acquaintences and the friends of friends.

What do like to give or receive as omiyage?

 

[Davey]

I brought a lot of Cheese with me, Stroopwafels, and some delfs blue for the family.

I also bought some Dutch post cards, that I want to give to people in here.

For my father in law, I bought a bottle of wine in a special Rembrandt 400 years box, for my sister in law a nice photo holder with some dutch things on the side, and of course some Miffy because she is Dutch for my brothers upcoming child

 

[nice gaijin]

I was worried about bringing food items with me, such as cheese, but the pistachios didn't cause any problems and went over well. Perhaps some good preserves would be a nice option. I forgot to mention one gift I brought for my friend's obaasan; some excellent local honey. They really enjoyed that.

 

[PsychoticNess]

This is an interesting post. I'm wondering what would be good gifts also, for I may need some ideas when I study abroad next fall. I hear bring lots of pictures for your host family to look at(not to keep, just to look at). Is that true?
What about little cutsey stuff? books? ...I think i'm thinking too big now.

 

[MySweetYossie]

Top Knot.
Wind Chimes.
Local Honey (As Mentioned)
Traditional Doll. (Expensive)

 

[Iron Chef]

A couple of ideas:

Kids seem to love DC/Marvel comic books. Their relatively cheap, lightweight, and are a nice departure from the traditional monocolor or B&W manga. Popular icons like Spiderman, Batman, etc. would probably go over well.

As lame as it might sound, good 'ol American beef jerky (preferrably a local brand). It's always been well-received from my experience, especially with the older folks.

Novelty gifts that perpetuate the "American image" like Harley Davidson gear, presidential bobbleheads, panoramic (or scantily-clad) photo calendars, etc.

 

[nice gaijin]

Have they lifted the beef ban? I'd hate to have my omiyage confiscated!

 

[epigene]

Have they lifted the beef ban? I'd hate to have my omiyage confiscated!

Not yet. But it may be, depending on your arrival date!

 

[Emoni]

As for Omiyage I really would consider avoiding any alcohol for a host family for various minor reasons. I considered getting alcohol from Napa for my host family, but decided against it, and a few people I talked to who went last year agreed that there are safer things to choose. You really have no idea what type of host family you will get placed with, so play it safe. However, as for people you know, and other friends and family you have met then go for it. It is usually a very good thing of omiyage otherwise. Just don't break it on the trip there!

Food from different regions is a BIG thing in Japan. As long as it is clearly sealed, then you should be safe at customs. Watch out for chocolate and keep it in a cool place! When you get to Japan it is going to be HOT and probably will melt very easily due to the fact that not every room and place has air conditioning. Depends on the chocolate and where you put it. As for other foods, this always is good omiyage if you can bring special foods from America that won't get yanked at customs. Don't bring beef... you're asking for trouble you don't need. Above all, avoid ANYTHING that might cause the slightest trouble in Japan. You can only predict so many things, and if you foresee a possible problem, then be glad you can maybe avoid that and take the moment to do that when you can.

As for reading material for host families... it is iffy. Be conservative unless you know the people. My host family was catholic and fairly conservative, so getting a music magazine could have been not a very good choice for them.

One thing of Omiyage that is good as a little trinket is $2 bills. I know it sounds weird, but a lot of Japanese people, even those who studied abroad in America, have never seen these. A certain girlfriend of a Panda we both know thought they were quite neat, as well as a few other people I mentioned to them in Japan. They are cheap small omiyage that you can get at the post office usually and have quite a "Oooo cool!" value to them. I'm not kidding either.

The rule I have gone by is this... if you know the person, you're probably gonna know exactly what to get them. If you DON'T know the person... play it safe as first impressions can say a lot. Especially with a host family you will be with for a year! Sealed food is the safest bet, and that is what I recommend if you can't think of anything otherwise. Avoid anything that might even SLIGHTLY be a risk for a gift. You probably will be ok, but if you aren't you will regret it for the rest of the year you are here.

 

[nice gaijin]

Good advice, emoni. I also would say as a general rule I wouldn't want to give something I couldn't enjoy with the receiving party, so if I didn't drink alcohol I shouldn't give it as a gift.

I think what I'll do is have some omiyage specifically for people I know, and some generally "safe" gifts for everyone else. Any particular foods or products you'd recommend? I'm going to start compiling a list pretty soon.

 

[Timey]

some traditional items
- scarves, traditional printed
- handicraft
- local hand puppets, handcrafted to the smallest details.
- some local dried foods.

 

[nice gaijin]

You have given those as omiyage, Timey? They were traditional items from which culture? Can't say there's a wealth of scarves or hand puppets around here, but that sounds very interesting.

 

[gaijinalways]

Hand made curios are nice, but sadly many Japanese like the more touristy crap with the name of the area on it (spoons, thimbles, magnets, etc), especially if it is a more famous area (not necessarily your hometown, as long as it is somewhat nearby).

Food choices can be fun, we still buy things like that now with my wife picking up British chocolate at the supermarket as it's expensive and difficult to get in Japan. Spoilage is a problem, as well as fragile items that may get broken or damaged enroute.

Some people are also crazy about clothing, again with the name of the place emblazoned across it. We still pick up hats for my father-in-law with various place names.

Brand names are still big in Japan, but of course you're talking about spending more bucks in that case. Even sweaters or sweatshirts with a well known luxary brand are gagaed over in some cases.

 

[MajideSaiaku]

I live in Scotland, my country was made for Omiyagi considorations, bwahahahahahaha!.

A bit o' whiskey for the pa, some stylish Scottish style jewelry for the girlfriend, A very posh nice item for the mum, some tartan wear for the future-sister-in-law, and foodstuff's for everyone in general.

Dont tell my lady, but there is this "Scottish shop" in the city centre of my home city, and more often then not thats where the majority of her and her families gifts/omiyagi come from.

And I love Japanese omiyagi so its the perfect relationship.

 

[Timey]

You have given those as omiyage, Timey? They were traditional items from which culture? Can't say there's a wealth of scarves or hand puppets around here, but that sounds very interesting.

yes.
those are from indonesia.
i usually brought the scarves with batik pattern made of silk.
Batik is the traditional pattern for fabrics in my country, lots of different pattern styles depends from which part of the country, several different techniques of printing (hand printed, machine printed or mix and different ingredients for the paints -organic and non organic----which creates a wide range for the cost).

as for the hand puppets -called wayang- is usually used for traditional stage performance, traditional background music and singers, the puppet masters will personify the character's voice and sing. got some different materials for the puppet also, the most popular ones are made of wood (3D) and leather(2D, shadow puppet), different colours for different characters, the accessories and also the apparel, lots of different sizes.
as for omiyage, for easy handling, i'll go for the leather one.

i've found out lots of foreigners -not only japanese- love these kind of things, also some other traditional stuff. So, actually it's not quite hard to find omiyage for foreigners. some of them even love to explore the village and bought it before it was distributed to the shops--straight from the workers/artists.

this is the wooden one with the puppet master and and the batik as in hand printed

interested ?

 

[Emoni]

See's Chocolates worked pretty good for food, Jelly Belly beans worked good too. However, these are a bit sweet... Goods that have American logos on them, even if they are common things can be good for little omiyage as well, food included.

 

[sadie_sue]

I know in the states the are certain things that are made and sold only in a one state, so those things usually make good gifts. I know that my cousin gave my mom this special brand of baked beans once, which was pretty weird but mom loved them and couldn't afford to have beans specially delivered across the country.

 

[Emoni]

I talked to "a certain guy who I rode with down to the Berkley area" and he mentioned that coffee might be a good omiyage idea. He also had some other ideas as well that you might ask about. I never had to think too much about it because I got things specific to each person and just stuck to something basic for my host family. I think your host family is all you will need to think about actually.

 

[nice gaijin]

coffee might be a good idea, but as with the others, depends on people's tastes. I'm still thinking about gifts (even small ones) for the families I spent time with last year, especially if I find myself in need of their hospitality once again, for whatever reason

 

[yamada]

Something of the like pepper, tabasco source...

 

[MajideSaiaku]

I found a big Rosemary bush growing behind the fence at the back of my yard so I took some clippings, yay Rosemary dishes omiyagi for a few years, bwahahaha!.

Yes I enjoy growing plants :O.

Meh, if it wasnt such a bio-hazard booboo I'de give plants from my own nursery to folk, but chances are they'd kill em.

 

[ArmandV]

On my first trip to Japan, I brought with me bottles of California wine as gifts for some movie studio executives (which ended up breaking before I could give them, so I ended up giving some local Japanese wines) and a Los Angeles Dodgers t-shirt.

 

[nice gaijin]

I get two suitcases up to 70lbs, right? Looks like one of them is going to be quite full of gifts. I might have overdone it a bit. I can leave stuff behind if necessary, but I have at least three families aside from my host family to whom I wish to give gifts. Thus far:

• California themed kitchen towel
• Alcatraz warden badge in case the host-family has a kid)
• Mojo Music Magazine with a Sample disc of 15 different artists
• a 4-disc DVD set called "over California" which can also be broken up among recipients (yes I know about the region codes, I intend to create region-free copies to include with the set). The idea is to share some images of my home state. It might even be better to just take the region free discs and show them to people instead of giving them away as gifts.
• a 4lb bag of pistachios
• 1lb can of macadamia nuts
• 2.5lbs of mixed nuts
• two .5lb bags of beef jerky (sealed)
• two large tins of chocolate biscuits (about 2.5lbs apiece)
• two bottles of Napa wine
• small 1-2lb bottle of local honey
• mini-carton of Nat Sherman cigarettes (for smokers)
• a couple small bags of assorted chocolatey candies that can be given away to friends and such.

 

[MajideSaiaku]

Great list, Nice Gaijin.

 

[epigene]

[*]small 1-2lb bottle of local honey

The list looks great!

Honey on your list reminded me of the lemon- and orange-scented honey I used to like in California. Honey in Japan is commonly from acacia or mikan orange at best. If it's not too late, the lemon and orange scented ones would be nice!