Souvenirs

As a foreigner in Japan I can get away with not conforming to some examples of Japanese politeness.  But, if I choose to try to conform a bit, it makes a big difference in personal relationships.  So it’s worth the effort.

In Japan, if you go somewhere, you are expected to bring back souvenirs for your co-workers, family, and friends.  Normally this only applies if you are going somewhere outside the prefecture (kinda like a Japanese state), but if you go somewhere interesting within the prefecture it’s also appreciated if you bring something back.

These souvenirs qualify as politeness because the idea behind them is that you, while enjoying your pleasant trip away from your daily cares and worries, took the time to think of those who were still back home.  In the workplace it’s often a way of almost apologizing for enjoying your trip while others were working hard.  An “I want to give you some small amount of the fun I had in the form of this delicious treat.”  Without actually saying any of that. 

These souvenirs are called omiyage in Japanese.  They often take the form of small cakes or treats that may be famous in that area.  They come in boxes or sometimes decorative tins, all individually wrapped for easier giving.  And since this is such a politeness norm, there are entire shops set up devoted to selling only omiyage. 

And it goes a step further than that.  In major airports and train stations there are shops that have omiyage from all over Japan in stock.  So you don’t actually have to buy anything while you are on your trip.  You can just grab something from the area you went to on your way home.  You won’t have to pack it or carry it around, and it won’t get squished in your bag.  Of course, this means you are able to tell people you were thinking of them on your trip without actually thinking about them on your trip.  The really big international airports also have omiyage from other countries.  This actually makes a lot of sense as the nice individually wrapped things may be difficult to find in countries where this isn’t the norm. 

There is almost always something in the Teacher’s Room that someone brought from somewhere to share.  I’ve seen omiyage as simple as a box of doughnuts from someone who came in late to work because he had some sort of meeting in the morning away from the school. 

or from more impressive trips, like to Tokyo Disneyland

One of my 9^th graders went to Hokkaido (the northern most part of Japan) to take a High School Entrance exam at a school there.  She missed several days of school for this.  When she returned she brought back potatoes, a famous food from the area, for the entire school.  The school lunch people prepared them and she helped pass them out to all the teachers and students during lunch (it’s a small school of only about 40 students, but still).

My favorite souvenir story happened after my junior high second graders (8^th graders) went on their school trip one year.  They went to Kyoto and on the way back spent a day or so in Fukuoka.  The week after they got back my teacher and I were setting up in the front of the room, waiting for class to start.  One of my favorite students came up to the front to talk to me.  She was holding a bag and smiling, but looked a little nervous.  She said, IN ENGLISH (I was so proud!), “Amanda-sensei, last week we went to Kyoto on the school trip.  I brought you omiyage.” 

She handed me a little paper bag that had a box of sweets inside.  You could tell that she had practiced what to say, and it really meant a lot to me that she not only thought of me during the trip, but wanted to give her present to me using English.  I thanked her and gave her a big hug.  I was beaming and happy and so was she.  She turned to go back to her desk then turned back around and said, “Oh, Amanda-sensei.  Secret.”   I let her know I understood.  She was the only one in the class to bring me something which would be embarrassing to the others if I pointed it out, and I was probably the only teacher she had brought something back for (I’m sure the class as a whole brought back omiyage as a group for all the teachers and other students). 

Before I ever worked with one of my English teachers he went to Hong Kong.  He brought me back souvenirs from his trip.  I was pretty surprised as I was not expecting any presents since I had only met him once before this.  But this was his way of saying that our working relationship was important and that he looked forward to working with me in the next year.

I do know some foreigners who conveniently forget to mention that they are going somewhere in front of their co-workers.  If they are just going for a weekend or holiday they don’t have to feel guilty about having fun while others are working.  And thus, they don’t feel obligated to buy omiyage for them.

And this is understandable to me.  For the average Japanese teacher I work with, omiyage means getting under 20 things to cover all of the teachers they work with.  For me, who works at 4 different schools, I need about 60 things if I want to cover all my co-workers.  I work at a small number of schools compared to some people I know. 

I like doing it though, because as I am an American, it really isn’t expected, and therefore, it’s a bit more appreciated.  People will see a small treat on their desks and just kinda ask, “What’s this?” or “Who’s this from?”  When they find out it’s from me they are often surprised and then become very thankful.  That little treat that really wasn’t a big deal a moment ago is now really cool because it’s from me.  And anything I bring back from America is worth hundreds of instant cool points.

This is just a close up of the Tokyo Disney tin because I think its adorable