Gifts

The Japanese are a people fond of giving things to others. Ochugen (midsummer gifts), oseibo (year-end gifts), travel souvenirs, celebratory presents, small gifts brought when visiting, shares of a windfall, and so on—there are gifts keyed to all sorts of seasons and occasions. Cross the sea, and this indiscriminate giving of things to others falls away. Precisely because of that, we Japanese have grown so used to gift-giving that at times, no doubt, the sense of gratitude wears thin.

To begin with, as for the act of giving a thing to another—my ideal is that it be done not bound by formality, ceremony, or custom, but based on the value of “because I truly like it,” or “because that person likes it,” pouring in one’s sincerity to share joy. To put one’s heart into gifts and courtesy and feeling, rather than merely settling matters with words or material things, is a virtue peculiar to the Japanese, and I take pride in having been born in such a Japan.