I'm going to Japan in January and will be staying at my roommates's house. I think I may have made a mistake by asking him if I should bring a gift to his parents since he said I didn't need to. Bringing gifts to one's host's house if a custom isn't it? I'm wondering of I could get some advise from the Japanese people here. Whats a good gift to bring that isn't clique or too expencive?
i understand.
usually if someone tells me they want to bring Omiyage(gift/present/souvenior), i'd say, "no, no. don't go bother".
but this is because of our modesty(?), and i think you can bring something over to him or to his parents. :)
i don't understand what you mean by "not clique", but the best thing you might want to bring could be one of your local products popular in your country, also something useful i think.
for example, when i visited the US, i brought some fans that have beautiful japanese drawings on the surface, miniature hand-made Tansu(a set of boxes) made with japanese paper for my host-mother to put some jewelries in, some bookmarks also made with japanese paper and some postcards that has scenery in japan.
(i was the first japanese for the host family to stay with)
i also brought some ingredients and cooked japanese food for host families one night.
all of them were not too expensive, and i think my host family liked them.(hopefully)
good luck on your stay in japan. ^^
まずはおまえの国を教えろ！話はそれからだ！
>3 Well if I could do that with a gift...
My grandmother volunteered to pick up something "American", I don't know if that would be OK as a gift?
>>4
can you please give us some example of something american? :)
アメリカかよ。
超ビックサイズのお菓子でも買っていけば？驚くよたぶん。
ID:VndWZfV4,
errr, i really hate to tell you this and please do not take this as an offense but...um...
candy might not be a very good idea...of course it depends on what candy you are thinking of...
one time, i've bought stick-like, gumi-like thing (red colour), and gave it to my friends and co-workers but somehow they didn't like it that much.(i bought lots and lots of them...orz)
i think japanese people are not used to its taste...
like, it's like you eat umeboshi or natto, perhaps? :P
looked at those pics above but not sure which one might be good...
let me think and if i come up with ideas, i'll post it here.
1) Japanese people do not expect presents
2) Japanese people are unimpressed by "proper" presents of the sort you would give if you travelled to Europe
3) Japanese people love Skittles
...that's what I would say if I felt I had a license to generalize from an individual experience with one family.
shoot...
i copipe-ed my ID...orz, it was supposed to be ID:Pfkq0ZmK above.
sorry.
But I feel obligated in some way to get something for them. I don't want to get a gift if they won't like it or don't want anything, but something subtle to show that I appreciate them letting me stay in their house. どうしよう。。。
What US state are you living in (assuming you are American)? Maybe a state symbol or something related to that?
>>8
そりゃあ買おうと思えば買えるけど、普通は買わないし。
人工着色料を使った派手な色のお菓子はダメだけど、
甘さ控え目なクッキーとかいけるんじゃないかな。
コーヒーでもつけてプレゼントすればいいんじゃないかな。
アメリカのビーフジャーキーは食いごたえがあって良かった。
BSEが無ければおすすめだったのだが・・・。
ホストの爺婆には噛み切れないかもしれんが・・・。
コーヒー＆クッキー
酒飲みならビーフジャーキーは好きだと思う。
香辛料が強いのと固いので、嫌いな人もいるけど。
They usually appreciate regional specialties. Coffee is pretty useless if you're not from Hawaii, with the Kona coffee...
>>16
Hm, "Empire State" doesn't make for very good ideas concerning expectations, hehe
>>20
Maybe a Statue of Liberty miniature? A yankees cap?
>>21
It shouldn't be too cheap, though.
A souvenir would still be nice as long as it's not completely impractical.
It would also be a nice bonus if it wouldn't be available in Japan,
that would make it more special.
when i traveled to NY, i bought something for myself, my family and frieds.
i bought "I love N.Y." coffee mug(actually "love" is replaced with a heart mark), beautiful postcards, keychains, T-shirts, an ash tray that has scenery painted on...what else?
yeah, like >>21 said, Yankees cap or Matsui item might be good, too.
>>1
if you go to souvenir shops for tourists (i went to lots of them in Manhattan), you could ask the owners what are popular items among japanese tourists. :)
ニューヨークまんじゅうでいいだろ
アメリカって文化が浅いｗｗｗ
お土産に困るよな