Japan: Economics in Everyday Life

4. Why So Many Gifts?

4 Why So Many Gifts? Robert Parry The doorbell rings; you open the door to receive a beautifully wrapped parcel from one of Japan’s prestigious department stores. What is it? Excitement fills the air as you carefully remove the wrapping paper—nobody tears open parcels in Japan—to reveal . . . several months’ supply of laundry detergent. Congratulations! You are at the receiving end of the Japanese custom of giving seasonal gifts. The Japanese also give presents when they travel, and on other special occasions. Larger stores in Japan have sections devoted solely to gifts. At tourist destinations around the globe, you also see many Japanese buying presents. It is not unusual for a Japanese family to spend over 100,000 yen (1,000 U.S. dollars ) a year on presents. Seasonal Gifts Midsummer and the end of the year are the two major seasons for giving gifts. The practice has survived although its religious origins have faded. The midsummer gift, ochu -gen (less formally, chu -gen), originated from a combination of a Chinese Taoist ceremony and Japan’s Buddhist bon festival. During this midAugust festival, the Japanese offer special dishes at small altars in their homes for the returning spirits of their ancestors. Today, 27 the largely urban population braves colossal traffic jams to return to its rural roots to enjoy local village festivities. The custom of making offerings to ancestors during the bon festival has been extended to giving presents to customers, supervisors, and others of higher rank, or to persons who have provided special favors in the past. Similarly, December’s year-end gifts, known as oseibo (also less formally called seibo), originated in offerings to the returning spirits of ancestors and gods at the New Year. Japanese companies do their part by paying summer and winter bonuses to their employees during these gift-giving seasons (see chapter 14). An average household sends about eight chu -gen and eight seibo presents of about 4,000 yen (40 U.S. dollars) each. Consumables such as beer, instant coffee, soap, and laundry detergent are among the most popular gifts. Travel-related Gifts Souvenir gifts, or omiyage, are expected to be brought back from a trip and given to family, friends, and colleagues. The practice originated from pilgrimages to the main Japanese Shinto shrine, located at Ise in central Japan. In the past, few could afford the slow, treacherous, and costly trip. An entire community or village would contribute a send-off gift of money, called senbetsu, to help pay for one person to visit the shrine on behalf of all. The pilgrims would later return with good-luck charms known as omamori and other souvenirs as presents from the shrine for the contributors. Today, travel destinations are more diverse, and the souvenir presents, known as omiyage, typically include purchases from luxury and duty-free shops abroad. The most popular gifts from domestic destinations are foodstuffs, usually cakes or sweets, that are famous products of the places visited. Buying these presents at shops in railway stations and airports before returning home minimizes the inconvenience of carrying the omiyage around 28 Japan: Why It Works, Why It Doesn’t during the trip itself. Gift shops are stocked with prewrapped packages in various sizes to suit the purchaser, who might, for example, be looking for just the right number of tidbits for a specific number of co-workers. On average, a Japanese takes 1.5 domestic trips per year and spends over 6,500 yen (65 U.S. dollars ) on omiyage per trip. The practice of giving omiyage has been extended to overseas trips, as anyone who has seen Japanese tourists in Honolulu’s Ala Moana Shopping Center or in brandname stores elsewhere, such as London’s Fortnum and Mason, can testify (see chapter 6). Rites of Passage In Japan, as elsewhere, giving gifts is an important part of various rites of passage. There are manuals, some four hundred pages long, which describe the proper etiquette and procedures for various ceremonies and gifts. Weddings and funerals are occasions for the most elaborate forms of gift-giving. Japanese weddings are lavish and expensive, usually costing several million yen (tens of thousands of U.S. dollars; see chapter 2). Seeing how these extravaganzas are financed reveals Why So Many Gifts? 29 their ritual as well as practical sides. On being invited to a wedding , guests consult a manual to learn where to sit...