Challenges with Omiyage for Coworkers

Getting omiyage, or gifts from your travels, has become kind of a challenge for me. When I worked in a larger school with a large number of coworkers, buying something for them to share was more automatic, and therefor less personal. Just pick a box of something that looks yummy or is special to that place and call it a day, I would say. As long as I brought enough pieces for everyone, it was fine.

Now I work for a much smaller English school. My main coworkers are my bosses and they regularly have to hand out to me and the other part-timers any omiyage they receive from students or other teachers. They just receive too much and have nothing to do with it. Giving them more of something they don't want or need isn't really an intention of mine.

I was even told before my winter vacation not to bring them things as they don't want any, which would be great and easy, frankly a relief, if I hadn't already received one small gift from one of the other part-time teachers from his trip to Tokyo earlier in the year.

In the spirit of reciprocity, I was obliged to bring something back for him, but couldn't financially commit to much during my trip. In addition, he is likely to be moving to a new apartment some time this spring and inundating him with extra possessions would be less than optimal.

He had only given me one small snack cake in a box, around the size of my index finger. It doesn't seem like the return gift should have to be huge, but my husband scoffed when I suggested getting something of a similar size, so I eventually wound up with this.

A box of sembei rice crackers with capybara bathing in onsen printed on them. One of my favorite places we've been in recent memory, Nasu Animal Kingdom, has such capybara and onsen set up, and patrons can even enter the capybara enclosure and feed leaves to the massive rodents. It is magical.

So after all my difficulty in choosing a gift and finally buying one and bringing it to work, I was met with the unpleasant memory that the coworker I had intended these for would be off the week that I got back from vacation and I would have to bring them back in the new year after all.

So the challenges continue.