Need present ideas for a Japanese person.

[SceptileMaster]

So it turns out I only have one more Japanese lesson until the exam. This means I only have a week to buy a present for my teacher for the last lesson. I'm unsure of what would be or would not be considered appropriate from a Japanese person's point of view. That's why I'm asking for some advise here. Thank you for any help it's much appreciated. Also if it helps my Japanese teacher is female.

[Hotch]

You are a good student I think. Have a dinner together is OK in my opinion

[jrisjerry]

We usually buy flowers as a gift for our teacher

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Hotch

You are a good student I think. Have a dinner together is OK in my opinion

A male student asking a female teacher out to dinner? Don't be offended when she doesn't accept because she probably wants to keep her job and doesn't want to appear to be engaging in inappropriate behavior.

[clintjm]

Originally Posted by Hotch

You are a good student I think. Have a dinner together is OK in my opinion

A nice bottle of Plum wine; prefarebly Choya, with the plums. If she doesn't drink for some reason she could keep the thought and pass it along, or you'll end up enjoying the bottle.

I'd wait until the tests have been graded ^^.

Good man getting the teacher a good teacher a present!

[manganimefan227]

Hotch: Now where did this come from?

[Tsuwabuki]

Originally Posted by MMM

A male student asking a female teacher out to dinner? Don't be offended when she doesn't accept because she probably wants to keep her job and doesn't want to appear to be engaging in inappropriate behavior.

Even if the student was female, this would be inappropriate. I would suggest, instead, something fairly unique, but inexpensive. Anything more than ten quid is probably too expensive. The last time I bought something for a female Japanese superior, it was a a $12 genuine handcrafted deer skin dream catcher from New Mexico (where part of my family has historically resided since the 1840s, the other part being across the border in Texas).

Unique, but definitely not expensive. Anything too expensive brings up the same issues as a dinner, although perhaps not quite as blatantly.

[SceptileMaster]

I definitely wouldn't play the dinner card for reasons such as: she's my teacher and I respect her, she's about 20 years older than me and she's married.

The main thing I'm stuck with is that if I got her something Japanese she would probably already have one. Any suggestions?

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by SceptileMaster

The main thing I'm stuck with is that if I got her something Japanese she would probably already have one. Any suggestions?

It's old hat, but you don't have the skills to make anything do you? I bought a bunch of those blank fans you can find in craft stores and painted sumi-e on them as gifts. On the cheap side, but i made them all personal and everyone really loved them. Another year (in the UK) finances were pretty rocky but thanks to my nan's garden everyone got jars of home-made jam or chutney. That one might come across a bit more odd in Japan though, I think, especially for a guy.

If you're stuck buying just Japanese things, maybe try and thing of something ordinary but then buy a nicer version that she might not pick up for yourself. What I mean is, everyone buys tea-bags, but most people would consider a more expensive loose-leaf tea to be an acceptable gift item. I don't know, has she expressed any particular hobbies or interests? My old japanese teacher used to bomb about the country going to beer festivals so ~that~ was an easy one. We all just got her booze.

[Nyororin]

I say to go with something simple. In Japan, teachers are generally not allowed to accept gifts from students, so there isn`t really any specific "teacher gift".

But really, why go with something "Japanese"? She isn`t living in Japan, and may be happier with something non-Japanese.
I mean, think about it - if you were working abroad, would you be thrilled to get something normal and boring from your home country? I wouldn`t... Don`t worry about where she is from. Just get something nice and small, and give it while saying thank you.