Japan Tourism
Travelers Bearing Gifts
‘Omiyage’ Is Deeply Rooted In Japanese Travel Culture
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| Torii gates are common sights throughout the Grand Shrines of Ise. PHOTO: Pacific Magazine |
“The omiyage custom is a cultural DNA that will stay with us,” says Noritake Kanzaki, a folklore specialist and a council member at the Institute for the Culture of Travel in Tokyo.
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The Japanese custom dates back centuries, having developed simultaneously as group travel in the Edo period. The country’s earliest tourists were commoners. They saved money collectively and sent small groups in turns to trips within Japan, ostensibly on pilgrimages to noted Shinto shrines.
The main destination was the Grand Shrines of Ise in central Japan, near Nagoya. Commoners used worship as an excuse to travel, one of the few reasons that the shogunate allowed people to leave their villages. In Ise, they joined groups from other villages for sightseeing. Inns, restaurants, theaters, and even brothels opened in Ise, and along popular routes, to cater to the travelers’ needs.
“The percentage of people going to Ise Shrine is equivalent to the percentage of people going overseas now,” notes Kanzaki.
As “representative worshipers,” the travelers spent money that belonged to the village. It was a matter of accountability that they had to bring something from their trips for those left behind. Thus was born the custom of omiyage.
The most popular omiyage of that early era was shogato, or hardened sugar with ginger flavor. It is pentagon-shaped and can be divided like a chocolate bar. “It was not very important what people liked. The priority was to get a souvenir that could be split among the villagers,” says Kanzaki, who has written a book on the subject.
Today’s Japanese are far more sophisticated travelers. As citizens of the world’s second largest economy, they have high spending power and take trips seemingly at whim. While many still go in groups, those who travel independently are increasing in numbers.
But some things have not changed. Japanese still buy lots of omiyage and they still want them dividable.
“The workplace is the new village. It is unthinkable for an employee to come back from a trip without gift for his or her co-workers,” Kanzaki says. He adds that the omiyage custom may also be the reason travel agents have a practice of printing two copies of a traveler’s itinerary. One copy is for the traveler, and the other for family or friends, so they know where he or she is going, and thus can expect a gift on their return.
Tourist destinations that wish to cash in on Japan’s omiyage custom can look to Hawaii for direction. Macadamia nut chocolates have long been the most
popular omiyage among Japanese travelers of the current era.
