What to Bring to Japan: Omiyage

As part of our preparation for our work overseas, several JET resources have suggested that we take part in the tradition of omiyage, or gift-giving. After doing a bit of reading, my understanding of omiyage is that when someone goes on vacation, or some extended travel, this person will bring back souvenirs for friends and family. This shows that the person was thinking about their family and friends while they were away. According to our information book, or JET Handbook, that has been provided to us,

Giving gifts to people who help you out is not only a nice gesture, but it is an essential aspect of Japanese culture. Anything you bring will be greatly apprecieated, so you do not have to bring large, expensive gifts. Do keep in mind civil servants cannot accept expensive gifts. The gift is merely a token of friendship.
1.) Some gift ideas include: box of chocolates/cookies, photo book of your country, badges, scenic calendars, sweets, key chains, stickers (especially for students). Anything will be appreciated, especially something that has your country or area on it, or is representative of it. Wrap individual gifts or buy small bags to put them in.
2.) People to consider giving gifts to:
i. your supervisor
ii. your principal and vice principal
iii. members of the English department and office colleagues
iv. students (great for prizes for games
v. your neighbours

One of the JET alumni who spoke at one of our seminars suggested that we get in touch with our local MLA’s/MP’s to see if they would provide any Canadian memorabilia. This turned out to be a valuable piece of information as my local MLA provided just over a dozen pins – half of which were of BC and the rest were for the 2010 Olympics. At my local MP’s office, I had barely mentioned that I would be teaching abroad and she was already putting together an envelope with 50 Canadian pins and a full-sized, outdoor Candaian flag. I think that my girlfriend bought her dad a flag for his birthday a couple of years back and it cost her about $80.

Some other gifts that I plan on bringing include: a couple of rolls of pennies, two Robert Bateman books, and I think that I’ll try and find some candies that are reflective of Canadian culture. I think I might also take advantage of the Olympics coming to town and try to track down a few of the specially designed quarters that are in circulation – so far I have three. As for something that I won’t bring, I don’t think I’ll be giving any maple syrup to anybody. As another JET alumni mentioned, it just doesn’t go with many Japanese foods.


Here is a response to my What to Bring to Japan post concerning Omiyage that I received via Facebook. There are a couple of other responses as well to the post which you can view here.


Gemma said…

hey, bryce! good list. i'll focus on your gifts....

again, omiyage isn't necessary upon your arrival, but i did it because it's nice to help grease the wheels. :)

i brought gifts for: my principal, vice-principal, assistant to the vp, the staffroom, (x 3 schools), my two JTEs; the BoE staff, my supervisor, my supervisor's assistant, the mayor, plus 2-3 important dudes in my BoE. obvs... note this is ESID - ask your pred what they did!

if you are bringing foodstuffs
- think individually-wrapped if possible! i brought over chocolate loonies (which were a hit, but a bad idea... because i was always worried they'd melt)
- a box of nice cookies or maple candies might work?

general ideas for gifts:
- picture books (in japanese, if possible) of canada/vancouver; canadian flags, canadian flag pins, keychains, small bottles of ice wine (i think you can only bring three over); kitschy stuff from your city.

gifts for students (note: i work at a JHS/elementary schools. oh, and i haven't handed out many "prizes" over the year! oops).
- stickers
- postage stamps (they're light and cheap!)
- some people like handing out cute keychains to their kids
- canadian flags, pins from my MPs office.
- canadian pencils

- pennies sound like a nice idea... but maybe get them shipped over later? it might take over some precious space in your luggage, just saying!

** note, you'll be arriving during summer vacay... so you won't meet the entire teachers' staff until late august. but you'll probably meet the higher-ups (principal, vp, etc). before that.

** don't forget to bring over some photos (of your life/your country) for your self-introduction lesson. you can either print them off here, or bring over your prints and blow them up at a photocopier at your nearest kombini (convenience store). i found that showing pictures to your teachers over the summer was a nice ice breaker, since i couldn't (and still can't!) speak japanese.