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  • Hey guys! As most of you probably know, there's a custom here in Japan where when you visit

  • someone’s house for the first time, you bring them a gift. This is something you do

  • for example if you were going to stay with a host family. A lot of people will bring

  • extra gifts when they come to visit just in case they get invited to someone else’s

  • house or something like that. And if you're going to be in Japan for an extended period

  • of time, not just for a short visit, then that's something you might want to consider

  • doing, too. There’s all kinds of advice online about

  • what kind of gifts you should give to Japanese people, but I decided to settle things the

  • way I like to do them: with numbers and charts! So back last April I asked our Japanese viewers

  • what they would like foreigners to bring as gifts, and today I'm going to go over their

  • responses. There were 50 valid responses and since this wasn’t a poll or anything where

  • people could select one certain answer, some people recommended multiple things, other

  • people recommended nothing, so the numbers we give you are going to be the number of

  • people who just came up with it on their own out of 50.

  • As you can see, 27 people recommended food, 14 recommended a small decorative item, and

  • 11 recommended pictures! And I'm going to explain exactly what all of that means. Most

  • other things were single comment suggestions. Also, aside from these categories, 34 people

  • went out of their way to mention that they would like something specific from your country.

  • The Number 1 answer with 27 people recommending it was food or snacks! And more specifically,

  • food from your own country that you can’t really get in Japan. So what can you get in

  • Japan? Most major international food brands, actually. So instead of hitting up Wal-Mart

  • for snacks, why don't you try going to a smaller, specialized store. Something specific to your

  • country is the best. So for example, if your country has a lot of good chocolate, or maple

  • syrup. Those would be good gifts to bring. And unique items are good, too! If you're

  • from Australia and you have alligator jerky, that'd kinda be a cool gift to bring!

  • Two people went out of their way to mention that the packaging on something is important,

  • so if you can find something that's packed in a cute little box, maybe with a bow or

  • something like that, that'd be a really good idea.

  • So for example, Jun and I recently received this box of chocolates from France. It's super

  • cute; it's got a little bow on it. This would be a really good souvenir gift!

  • Six other people actually recommended against bringing food or snacks because they said

  • that tastes differ too much in Japan and they're worried they wouldn't like it. But, a total

  • of nine people said they'd be happy with absolutely anything and it's really the thought that

  • counts. I personally think bringing food is a good idea and that's usually what I bring

  • because that's kind of the easiest thing to find as a gift. If you really want to find

  • something that you think will suit Japanese taste buds, then I would stay away from the

  • really brightly colored things or things with really strong flavors. Maybe stick to subtle,

  • refined flavors. I know that sounds kind of stupid, but that's really the best way that

  • I would be able to explain it.

  • Chocolates are always good. It's a really easy gift. I would just try to stay away from

  • American crap chocolates. Don't bring them a Hershey's bar or something.

  • And if you get the opportunity and have the ingredients, you can also always try making

  • a meal for them from your country.

  • The next biggest recommendation with 14 suggestions out of 50 is a small decorative item! What

  • is a small decorative item, and why do people want it? Some people prefer to have something

  • that lasts rather than something they'll just eat and throw away, like with food. And why

  • small? Because a lot of the places here are really small and they don't have a lot of

  • room to stash a whole bunch of junk. Not that what you're bringing would be junk. But they

  • don't have room for it. A small decorative item would probably be something that's representative

  • of your country or state or city, and it's something that the recipient can put on display

  • and look at later and remember all the fun times they spent with you! For example, I

  • have a couple things I can show you. I have this hand-carved camel from Tunisia. [Tunisia

  • camel!] And I have this decorative coin from Dubai, and I have this glass dagger from Afghanistan.

  • From Russia, you could bring a matryoshka doll, or a little statue of St. Basil’s

  • Cathedral. From Australia you could bring a little figure of the Sydney opera house,

  • or you could bring a little kangaroo or koala bear figure.

  • Something hand-made is completely fine, and in a lot of cases it can make the item seem

  • cooler or more collectible. And actually, 11 people mentioned that they wouldn’t mind

  • having something hand-made.

  • And the third most common suggestion with 11 votes is pictures, a picture book, a calendar,

  • or even a postcard. Something from your country or hometown. Tell stories about what it's

  • like living in your hometown. That’s one of the most interesting parts of meeting someone

  • from another culture, right? You want to know about them and see what it’s like living

  • on their side of the world!

  • In general, think about who youre bringing gifts for. Typically you only give gifts to

  • people if they do something generous for you or for example if they invite you over to

  • their home for like a meal. If youre just visiting Japan for two weeks and you don’t

  • have plans to meet anyone, you don’t need to bring anything at all. If youre going

  • to be studying abroad but youre not going to be home staying, you still might want to

  • consider bringing something just in case you happen to meet someone. If you are home staying,

  • then get to know who's in your host family. If you don't know what to bring for them,

  • you can always ask. But gifts that are age or station appropriate are always good, so

  • for example if your host family has a teenager daughter, then you could bring her a necklace

  • or bracelet from your country. By the way, it’s not uncommon for Japanese women not

  • to have pierced ears, so if you don’t know then I would not bring earrings. If your host

  • family has a housewife and you know she does a lot of cooking, then you can always bring

  • her something for the kitchen. I know how sexist that sounds but really, it's okay.

  • Jun brought back a can opener from America, because he was literally using one of those

  • old stabby can openers to open Leo’s food. And I mean, think about it. If youre cooking

  • every single day, would you rather use this boring old spatula, or would you rather use

  • this spatula I got from France.

  • Okay, and now for some gifts you shouldn’t bring. Meats, plant seeds, drugs, because

  • all of those are illegal to take across international borders and you probably won’t even get

  • them through the airport. Also, drugs are just illegal, period.

  • Keep in mind that for ALL gifts, do not bring anything that's too expensive because they're

  • going to feel uncomfortable accepting it and then they're going to feel pressured to reciprocate

  • it. I mean, if you have something really cool at the dollar store in your country, then

  • even that is fine. I’d say a good, safe gift is maybe anywhere from $5-$20, or whatever

  • the purchasing power equivalent of that amount is in your country. If youre bringing something

  • for your boss, or if someone really went out of their way to help you a lot, then you can

  • bring something that's a little more expensive. But don’t put yourself out about it and

  • don't spend outside of your means. No one wants you to get stressed out just thinking

  • about a gift. It's really okay, even if you can't come with anything at all. And if after

  • all these suggestions you still can't come up with something, I usually default to Ferrero

  • Rocher chocolates. That totally sounds like I’m plugging a product, but I’m not. You

  • CAN get them here in Japan, too, but they're just delicious and everyone loves them. I

  • think that's an all right gift to five. And Ferrero Rocher, you should totally like pay

  • me now, or... send me some chocolates.

  • When you do hand someone a gift, wait until you get seated in their home and then present

  • it to them and say, “つまらないものですが” which means, “This is really boring but

  • here you go.” Or if you can't remember that, you can just say, “おみやげです”

  • which means, “This is a souvenir.” Or if you can't speak Japanese at all, you can

  • just say, "Here! Gift!" プレゼントです。

  • And that’s it! But BEWARE, one word of caution. You can get locked into lifelong gift giving

  • battles with people. Jun's aunt and my grandma are in a gift giving battle. Theyve never

  • met. I don’t even remember how they started giving each other gifts, but every time I

  • get off the plane in one or the other country I have a gift for one of them. They're on

  • round 4 of a 4 year gift giving battle now.

  • Anyway, I hope this was all helpful and you feel less stressed out about giving gifts

  • now. If you do have experiences with giving gifts, maybe you can tell us about it in the

  • comments so other people can read about them and see how things went for you. And thank

  • you for watching! I'll see you guys later!

Hey guys! As most of you probably know, there's a custom here in Japan where when you visit

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