Japan's 'omiyage' culture
TOKYO —
Tourist shops everywhere in Japan are filled with colorful boxes of local sweets that are perfectly portioned for sharing. These are “omiyage.” At work, it’s almost expected that you bring back a box of omiyage filled with a specialty product from the area your business trip took place in, and friends and family often purchase omiyage for those who weren’t able to make the trip. Many argue that giving omiyage is a distinctly Japanese custom. Yuichiro Suzuki, author of Omiyage and the Railway, explains in an interview with Yahoo! Japan.
Don’t they have omiyage abroad?
Omiyage is translated as “souvenir” in English, but the two are a little different. A souvenir is something that the person who is doing the traveling buys for him/herself to remember the trip. In Europe and the United States, train station and airport stores are filled with key chains and other non-food items for this purpose. But Japanese omiyage typically consists of food items produced in the area the trip was taken in. Also, omiyage is not intended to be consumed by the traveler and is instead given out to coworkers or friends.
But what about chocolate-covered macadamia nuts in Hawaii?
These were created by Japanese-Americans who were most likely influenced by Japanese omiyage culture. France also has Mont Saint-Michel cookies which are popularly purchased for the same purpose as omiyage, but these are exceptions. The amount of food-related omiyage in Western souvenir shops is overwhelmingly low compared to shops in Japan.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/japans-omiyage-culture
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