A hard decision to take: Gifts in Japan?
 

Hi I am new in here ;)

In the near future, I will hopefully go to Japan, yeahh.....

I am willing to take part in an exchange program andsince then I've been wondering which housewarming gifts I should bring along ^^

I live in the very middle of Europe and could provide my guest family with all the things they dream of... but what would japanese expect or want?

I am looking forward to receiving your help :D :D :D

It depends a bit on the family you will be staying with. How many children are in the family? How old are they? Does the father or mother like to drink alcohol? Etc.

Maybe something to represent your home country? I brought silk scraf and wooden craft fromThailand, my home country, to my host family in Japan and they love it :)

Because I was travelling for a long time and had limited space, we took small gifts. I had a small pin badge with the Union Jack on it, and my brother had a carabineer with a Union Jack on it too. We both had a bundle of these and gave them to various people that we met and to our hosts. Whoever received them was really happy and when we went back to visit a few, they were wearing my badge and using my brothers clip. :)

well I come from a rather small country (not to say tiny one:ywave: )

we don't really have one specific cultural background...
would it be okay to bring some really tasty wine, I don't want to give my host family the impression that we (in my country) are some kind of alcoholics, and that's the only thing we think about :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

would it then be ok to bring food with me or are they picky eaters?

Check with your local city hall or gov't rep they should have flag/city pins.

I did it once when I went down to Cuba one time, a bit of a hassle but it was free.

Wine would be a perfect gift.

If you really believe that, you probably know very little about Japan.

Whatever OP says there must be something that's typical about her country. It sounds like you live in Switzerland so bring them coo-coo-clocks, knives and toblerone (you get the picture).
Alcohol is pretty good though, but you have to make sure that the receivers like to drink. It seems as though a proportionately higher amount of Japanese don't drink at all as compared to Europeans.
I also recommend bringing some postcards or similar of beautiful sights etc. in your home country. These are good tiny gifts for random people that you meet, where it's the thought that counts most of all.

Hope this helps.

Why don't we revisit this question once you actually have plans to go to Japan, know who your host family is, know how many members there are in the family, etc.?

Hello all!
Sorry to step into this thread, but as I was going to ask the same question, I didn't want to open a new one.
If the mod thinks it's better to have a separate thread, I'll be happy with that too.
Back to my question... As some of you already know, I'm going to Japan in 3 weeks. Yay! I really can't wait!!! We contacted 2 volunteer guides. They are both in their 30s and female.
The question is, what can I bring them from my country? I live in Ireland at the moment, but I'm Italian. I can try to get something from Italy (somehow) but it'll be easier to take something Irish.
First gift I can think of is Irish whiskey (Jameson) but they are women and I don't know if that's appropriate.
Something else is food: locally made chocolate or vinegard, or fairy figurines like this for example:



I really don't have a clue!!!!! Any suggestion is more than welcome!!!!

Pass on the fairy figurines. Things that take up space are not really desirable as a gift. A calendar or picture book is better, as it takes up little space. Food is also good, especially things they can share with their office or family.

***delete***

Are you using something like Google translator?

This makes no sense.

0% comprehensible.

Thanks a mil for your suggestions! I never thought about a calendar, it's a great idea. I think I'll get some baileys chocolate and a calendar or something like that.
Thanks again.