Early next year i plan to expand my rural Japan cafe to include rescuing stray cats in my area to turn it into a unique Cat Cafe. Any help is very much appreciated. www.buymeacoffee.com/realruraljapan
A vtuber I know (who is retired and now goes by another name) said that her father (who is Japanese) really loves to bring back Reese's peanut butter cups from the USA to give to his coworkers and the vtuber. Apparently, candy from the USA is a big hit in Japan so I thought about getting Whatchamacallits and Mr. Goodbar candy bars and giving them as gifts.
The talk about bumper crops and gifts reminded me of when I was a kid in the 1980's. My parents rented a garden plot on a farm on the edge of town and when we had bumper crops, my dad would fill up paper grocery bags of whatever vegetables and the family would go on "darkness of night" missions to deposit these bags to various homes in the neighborhood (including our own house) to be secretly charitable. My dad had a big thing about secret charity over the years.
One of the easiest ways people can do with gift giving is just stop by the road stations on the tollways and just watch what other people are buying and buy that. Everyday Japanese people buying their own omiyage will never steer you wrong. Just be observant for 5 mins and you'll do fine.
Great info, and makes perfect sense that people prefer consumable stuff given the lack of space in many Japanese homes. We live with too much clutter in the west!
Learned something about the Aussies as well from this one. Never heard of the gifting restaurants decorations tradition. I cant even imagine that in the U.S., but to be fair, we have so few independent (non-chain) restaurants these days.
I’ve never heard of that in the US, either, but, in any event, I wouldn’t do it somewhat for the same reasons of why it wouldn’t fly in Japan. People probably want to organize and decorate their place of business in particular ways and I wouldn’t want to “impose” some item I thought they might like on them.
@@bp6942 Right, or if you somehow knew it was something the restauranteur wanted but couldn't afford or couldn't get. But that's probably a _really_ rare case.
I live in Nagano. You passed the route I used to take from Hokubu when I worked there. You’re not an ALT are you? 🤣 I also know an Australian who has a student at the school I teach. Small world!
I've often wondered about the omiyage culture. Woukd it be to austentatious if I were to go somewhere every weekend and bring back omiyage? Like, would it offend someone that is struggling to make ends meet or can't go away very often?
Fair enough. I'm not great at my own culture's gifting traditions, I just give people things if I think they would like or need those things and I don't wait for holidays. "Oh, hey, do you like this hat?" If they like it they got a hat. If they don't it was worth a try probably. :)
Thanks for the additional insights, heard of some of the things, but saran wrap and tissue? Thats new to me. If it was only that easy over here in North America.
Early next year i plan to expand my rural Japan cafe to include rescuing stray cats in my area to turn it into a unique Cat Cafe. Any help is very much appreciated.
www.buymeacoffee.com/realruraljapan
A vtuber I know (who is retired and now goes by another name) said that her father (who is Japanese) really loves to bring back Reese's peanut butter cups from the USA to give to his coworkers and the vtuber. Apparently, candy from the USA is a big hit in Japan so I thought about getting Whatchamacallits and Mr. Goodbar candy bars and giving them as gifts.
The talk about bumper crops and gifts reminded me of when I was a kid in the 1980's. My parents rented a garden plot on a farm on the edge of town and when we had bumper crops, my dad would fill up paper grocery bags of whatever vegetables and the family would go on "darkness of night" missions to deposit these bags to various homes in the neighborhood (including our own house) to be secretly charitable. My dad had a big thing about secret charity over the years.
It means a lot more than the people who go on social media bragging they bought someone a sandwich
One of the easiest ways people can do with gift giving is just stop by the road stations on the tollways and just watch what other people are buying and buy that. Everyday Japanese people buying their own omiyage will never steer you wrong. Just be observant for 5 mins and you'll do fine.
Good advice and you will find its almost always food and they know the specialties!
Great info, and makes perfect sense that people prefer consumable stuff given the lack of space in many Japanese homes. We live with too much clutter in the west!
Learned something about the Aussies as well from this one. Never heard of the gifting restaurants decorations tradition. I cant even imagine that in the U.S., but to be fair, we have so few independent (non-chain) restaurants these days.
I’ve never heard of that in the US, either, but, in any event, I wouldn’t do it somewhat for the same reasons of why it wouldn’t fly in Japan. People probably want to organize and decorate their place of business in particular ways and I wouldn’t want to “impose” some item I thought they might like on them.
@@jeff__w Perhaps if it fit a theme, or you were a lifetime regular, etc.
@@bp6942 Right, or if you somehow knew it was something the restauranteur wanted but couldn't afford or couldn't get. But that's probably a _really_ rare case.
Great insights, thank you 🙂
Thank you for clearly explaining this. It's so complicated to me. I'm grateful to you 💐
I live in Nagano. You passed the route I used to take from Hokubu when I worked there. You’re not an ALT are you? 🤣 I also know an Australian who has a student at the school I teach. Small world!
No I'm not an ALT i just run a small cafe nearby.
@ I’d love to check it out sometime! I’m a huge cafe lover!
I've often wondered about the omiyage culture. Woukd it be to austentatious if I were to go somewhere every weekend and bring back omiyage? Like, would it offend someone that is struggling to make ends meet or can't go away very often?
Not in the slightest you would be a rockstar!
@RealRuralJapan fantastic! If everything works out right, I will be a rockstar! 😁
Fair enough. I'm not great at my own culture's gifting traditions, I just give people things if I think they would like or need those things and I don't wait for holidays. "Oh, hey, do you like this hat?" If they like it they got a hat. If they don't it was worth a try probably. :)
How about flowers (real ones)?
Caution,,White flowers are only for funerals !
Flowers make good gifts.
Thanks for the additional insights, heard of some of the things, but saran wrap and tissue? Thats new to me. If it was only that easy over here in North America.
Too much background noise, I kept missing words.
I send my in-laws fresh shipped seafood from Canada by a company that does it for a fixed 20 cdn fee. Father in law is a big fan 😂
They live in countryside south Kagoshima where wife is from. 😎
Canadian seafood is probably the best in the world. The colder the water the tastier the fish.
❣️💌❣️