When you are invited to someone's home in Japan, it is customary to bring a gift. If you happen to have brought gifts from your hometown (chocolates, July 4th celebration pins, and other souvenirs), they will be appreciated. If you do not have anything special on-hand, stop by the local grocery store and pick up some fruit or grab a bottle of wine.

Just a Little Something

When presenting a gift, even if you think it is the most wonderful, delicious thing in the world, you must downplay it with humble words. There is a phrase in polite Japanese that always accompanies the presentation of a gift:

This phrase is extremely humble and is likely to make a great first impression. Note that tsumaranai means “boring” or “not satisfying,” but in this case, it means “small” or “trivial.” Also, kedo is a shortened version of the more formal keredo, which means “but” or “however.” When used in its original form, it has a sidekick, mo:

Other Options

Gifts of money are usually prefaced with this statement, especially when the gift-giver feels that the amount is too low:

Specific feelings can be expressed by pairing the word for “good” or “bad” with kimochi. If something feels good, you say: kimochi ga ii. If something feels bad, you say: kimochi ga warui. For example: