Comments on: If you were going to Japan for a weekend homestay, what would you bring as gifts to the family?

By: fawkesphoenix

fawkesphoenix — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:45:59 +0000

The above suggestions are all good. One thing I would like to add is baseball gear, especially that associated with teams that have Japanese players at the moment! You may not be up to springing for a Yankees jersey, but consider baseball caps or t-shirts, as the sport is HUGE in Japan.
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By: potatoe

potatoe — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:08:59 +0000

They love gifts that cant be found much in Japan.
Kids…maybe u can try getting them Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!, LifeSavers, Hersheys chocolates (cuz they dont really get these there.)
For adults, you can get a momento from your state. Or maybe some snacks from your area?

I think its always good to get foods and snacks of your area because they dont really get them in their area.
But be careful, avoid sweets like KitKat, After Eight, M&Ms because they have it there.
Hope this is useful to you. ^^
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By: JavaJoe

JavaJoe — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:35:59 +0000

For the kids, bring them some candy that they can’t get here. While Japan does have kit-kats, M&Ms and Snickers they don’t have a lot more in the way of "foreign" candy.

For the adults, food is also appreciated and there’s a whole industry over here in Japan dealing with that stuff. Things like cookies, cakes or even alcohol like some scotch if you’re so inclined. If you’re from Canada you might consider some Icewine as that goes down a treat here and is expensive as hell.. Don’t bring any meats however as you’ll never get them past customs.

Other ideas are small gifts from your country. Little knick-knacks, lapel pins & picture books are always welcome.

Just remember if you bring a set of something avoid the numbers 4, 7 & 9 for the # of items as these numbers are considered unlucky.
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By: Juldog

Juldog — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:29:59 +0000

I live in Japan now and have family here so whenever I go back and forth from the states, I always ask my Japanese family what they want me to bring. Although they do appreciate souvenirs like t-shirts and books, they much rather have food. My cousins like gummy bears, beef jerkey, skittles, or any type of sweets that are from your area. See’s Candy is also a good idea. Japanese are really big on bringing sweets to friends and family when they visit each other and usually these sweets are whatever their direct city is popular for.
If you don’t want to bring food or candy, you can always bring a CD that is popular from your area, though sometimes, the CD’s can’t be played in some types of players out here. What about a coffee table book with pictures of wherever you are from? Maybe magazines with the latest pictures/news in the states? A lot of what you should bring also depends on the homestay situation. For example, your host family’s ages, if they have kids, or pets. Japanese treat their pets like a part of the family, so if the family has a dog, bring it a sweater or a treat! Seriously, they would love that! Hope this helps. You are going to have so much fun in Japan!
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By: Strudders67

Strudders67 — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:08:59 +0000

Check out these web links, particularly the last one in which a Japanese lady answered a similar question posed by two different questioners…

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2004.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/07/17/bt.japan.gifts/

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+23254
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