Hi,
we (my wife and I) have friends in that live in Kure… near Hiroshima, Japan.
As Americans we’ve gotten used to gift cards as presents and were wondering if anybody out there knew of what stores America has in common with Japan or what stores in that region offer online gift cards for purchase.
We really don’t know enough about Japanese culture to be picking gifts for these people so we figured they would know what they liked best.
Any travelers out there that could lend a hand?
I used to live near Hiroshima, and they didn’t have any American department stores like J.C. Penney or Kohl’s if that’s what you’re thinking of. They do have The Gap in Japan and I’ve personally been to the one in Hiroshima, but I don’t know if a gift card purchased in the US would be valid there. I remember seeing many very upscale shops like Harry Winston Jewelers in Hiroshima, but I assume you aren’t looking to spend that much money!
Are your friends Japanese or Americans? What’s the gift-giving occasion? For a lot of important events in Japan then the standard gift is cash, but that would be difficult to manage long-distance (personal checks aren’t really used in Japan).
hi again,
It’s a friend of my wife’s, they are both born japanese (the friends) but the wife of the 2 of them is having a birthday I believe.
Since you’ve been there maybe you could spare a few ideas for gifts as well since it’s gotten a little complicated to find something small and useful for them at a fairly inexpensive price.
Having lived in Kure in the past; there aren’t may equivalent shops as mentioned. One great gift is a simple melon (probably can’t mail from the states). A few cents here in the US but close to $100 over there!!!
Suggestions: High end chocolates are always appreciated (Japanese are brand name sensitive). Exotic Tea samplers. Flower arrangements are an excellent gift.
Having lived in Kure in the past; there aren’t may equivalent shops as mentioned. One great gift is a simple melon (probably can’t mail from the states). A few cents here in the US but close to $100 over there!!!
Suggestions: High end chocolates are always appreciated (Japanese are brand name sensitive). Exotic Tea samplers. Flower arrangements are an excellent gift. I believe the flower networks deliver worldwide.
The melons for $100 is a dated story. The actual cost of of melons now is closer to $15, while not really cheap isn’t that expensive. There is really expensive fruit, but it is sort of like a brand name thing. I would say no to that.
Flowers are an excellent choice. It looks like there are a few online services in English, but they start about $55.
The other gifts suggestions there would be nice.
Some popular gifts here:
A small picture frame,
Tea cup
You can get them a gift card for Amazon Japan.
Go to http://www.amazon.co.jp/ and right near the upper right hand corner you should see “In English”. Then go to ギフトカード
Hopefully you’ll be able to figure out how to do it, since not everything gets converted to English when you choose “In English”. Several years ago, my parents bought me some gift cards via Amazon JP even though they didn’t speak Japanese, but it’s possible that the site has changed since then.