12.13.08
Oseibo (Gift giving)
We have some traditions in Japan that others may not understand, and one of them is Oseibo. Oseibo means giving gifts and Oseibo time is the end of year. People give gifts to thank their relatives, coworkers, or businesses for their relationships and show that you care about them. It’s almost like Christmas Cards that you send to your friends and coworkers, but in this case, it’s a gift that ranges $50-300 or so.
Things got very efficient over the years and people can just go to the Oseibo-section at a department store and pick gifts and have the store ship directly to those who live far away. If you live close by, you make a visit with a gift, which may be wrapped with furoshiki, and have some conversation over a cup of green tea. Typical gifts are gift cards, alchohol, ham, oil, jam, sweets, etc… It’s almost like Christmas gifts, but it’s not. You have to give Christmas gifts separately if you want. Oseibo is something that you should not skip if you want to keep the relationship with them. A Oseibo gift shows how important they are to you, so you have to be careful about selecting a gift.
We have another gift giving time in summer called Ochugen, and you’ll have to do the same thing all over again!
The more people you know, the more gifts you have to buy. I remember my grandmother was on top of all these stressful things. She used a brand new note book every Oseibo or Ochugen time to list what she sent, who she sent to, and what she received from who. I don’t know how much my grandparents spent, but it must have been a lot if you have to use a whole note book!
Because it was usually in the summer or the end of year when we visited them, we got to observe gift giving customs first hand and constantly heard the door bell ring during our visit. People bring their gifts and greet at the front door. You hear a lot of “Arigato gozaimasu” – thank you very much in Japanese. As a child, I always looked forward to visiting their home because they had TONS of stuff in a “gift room”. I would go to the room and pick a couple of things that I liked. If it was food, I could either get to eat as much as I could while I was there or I could bring it back home with me.
It may be that not many people like these customs because they can be stressful and people may feel obligated to give gifts, but as a child, I remember looking forward to it and enjoying it very much!
