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Journal | Discover Nikkei

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When we were younger, my brothers and I had a joke about omiyage, the Japanese custom of giving friends, family, and co-workers souvenir gifts from one’s travels. The kanji for omiyage literally means “local product,” yet that definition fails to capture the essence of these gifts, which can be a beautiful expression of goodwill, a way of telling loved ones that you were thinking about them even when you were busy enjoying yourself visiting some exciting city or exotic locale. But growing up in Hawaii, my brothers and I often found the custom to be burdensome mainly because, to our Nisei parents, omiyage was serious business. The best omiyage was when it was a specialty or delicacy from the region traveled. So, when our family traveled from Oahu to the outer islands, we’d bring back macadamia-nut shortbread cookies from Kauai, potato chips from Maui, and Kona coffee from the Big Island. The ideal omiyage were things that were light and didn’t take up too much room in a suitcase, and of

Journal | Discover Nikkei https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2025/9/25/remembering-omiyage/ Nikkei Chronicles #14—Nikkei Family 2: Remembering Roots, Leaving Legacies Remembering Omiyage Alden M. Hayashi en ja es pt Language Toggle Key en Original Language (Solid + Underline) ja Official Translation (Solid) es Google Translate (Outline) '> Published Sept. 25, 2025 comments 4 Stars When we were younger, my brothers and I had a joke about omiyage , the Japanese custom of giving friends, family, and co-workers souvenir gifts from one's travels. The kanji for omiyage literally means "local

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