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Gift Culture in Japan | Places to Go Shopping Around | Selected Gifts for the Holidays

SHOWING YOUR APPRECIATION

The holiday gift season has just arrived, meaning it is now time for you to figure out what to buy for your loved ones. It’s the same in Japan, but, in addition to gift-giving within one’s personal circle, there’s one more gift custom: o-seibo.

O-seibo literally means “the end of the year” and is a rather formal custom that has been traditionally observed in Japan. The spirit behind o-seibo is showing appreciation at the end of the year to people who mean a lot to the giver. Unlike holiday gifts, people usually exchange o-seibo with groups of people--a family, relatives, co-workers--rather than individuals. People used to visit each household and company when they delivered o-seibo, but the custom has become simplified these days and many mail o-seibo to save time.

This is the busiest season for retail stores, especially for department stores. From early November to after Christmas Day, each department store sets up a temporary space or floor specifically dedicated to o-seibo gifts. Thousands of items, intended to meet the customers’ budgets and the tastes of the recipients, are displayed and sold in these o-seibo departments. The prices of the most popular items range from 3000 yen ($30) to 5000 yen ($50), while expensive o-seibo can cost as much as 100,000 yen ($1,000). Each household usually sends three to five o-seibo gifts each season.

POPULAR O-SEIBO ITEMS

The most sought-after o-seibo gifts are assortments of food and household goods that can be enjoyed by the entire family--beer, coffee, premium sausage and ham, selected local specialty foods, condiments and oils, sweets and desserts, and gift certificates are all popular items. There was once a time when high quality nori (dried seaweed) and katsuo-bushi (bonito flakes) were favored, but these days they are not ranked at the top. Special gifts such as jizake (sake from a micro-brewery) and local foods, both of which used to be unavailable as o-seibo items, have taken the place of nori and katsuo-bushi. This reflects the tendency of people desiring to give more original o-seibo instead of just sending “safe” items.

It is also true that what people want to give and what they want to receive are not always the same. Research data show that recipients’ favorite o-seibo are gift certificates while the gifts that senders most want to give are beer and coffee. To avoid worrying about personal taste, some people allow the recipients to choose their own gifts by sending catalogs.

THE MANNER OF O-SEIBO

When Japanese give o-seibo, there are certain rules that they must follow. The first thing is the gift-giving period, which runs from early December to around the 20th. It’s okay to send o-seibo in late December, but this period should be avoided because people are extremely busy settling everything from the past year and preparing for the upcoming year.

The second important thing is wrapping style. First, wrap the gift in paper and then put another paper with mizuhiki and noshi patterns (shown right) over the wrapping paper. Mizuhiki is an ornamental paper ribbon that is used for formal occasions. There are several colors and knotting styles used for different occasions, so the style should be carefully chosen. The knot for o-seibo is a butterfly knot using red and white ribbon. Noshi is a symbol used for celebratory gifts. It comes from noshi-awabi, paper-thin flattened abalone meat that was originally used in ceremonies. It is customary to write the name of the sender (not the recipient) on this white paper.

It is polite to write a thank-you letter when you receive an o-seibo gift. The exchange of o-seibo is usually mutual, so people commonly call to thank each other these days. There might, however, be a case when someone receives an o-seibo gift from an unexpected person. In that case, it is not necessary to send a gift back to them in haste, but sending a thank-you note is a good response. If you really need to send an o-seibo gift of the same value back to the person, it is more appropriate to send an o-nenga gift for the New Year than to send an unprepared o-seibo present.

THE SALES TREND DURING CURRENT O-SEIBO SEASON

It is predicted that the sales of o-seibo will be lower during this recession. In order to keep this from happening, many retailers are taking new steps. Since so many people buy o-seibo at the same time, popular or limited-quantity items often sell out early, and many stores accept “reservations” for o-seibo as well as for the delivery of these gifts. Stores are now offering “early bird” reservations a few days earlier than usual to encourage consumers to shop early. Department stores usually set special discount prices for some items, but this year they have expanded these specials to give more discounted options to customers.

Until the 1990s, the o-seibo culture in corporations was huge. Many corporations keep lists of companies that should receive o-seibo. Recently, however, retail stores have watched corporate spending decrease, and they predict the situation will get worse this year. In response, the retail industry has shifted its focus to individual consumers. One department store provides a service that allows consumers to trace sources of food items online from their cell phones. Since food traceability is an important issue in Japan now, stores are trying to attract more customers and a greater market share by providing such detailed services. The peak of o-seibo sales this year is predicted to be in early December.