If you’re looking for the best Japanese gift ideas, our gift guide is here to help. We’ve focused on cool and unexpected gifts for your favorite Shinichi (Japanophile) that you may not have thought of by yourself.
Once you’ve had real Japanese soy sauce, the stuff at your local grocery will never be good enough again. This extra-special shoyu is aged in Japanese whiskey barrels, giving an extra oomph to this artisanal soy sauce. Because of its delicate aroma and taste, we recommend using this soy sauce for dipping and finishing, rather than for adding to stewed or braised dishes.
One of the all-time great books about an American eating his way through Japan, this fun read by Matthew Amster-Burton is the perfect gift for anyone who loves Japanese cuisine.
The book follows Matt’s culinary adventures in Japan, with his eight-year-old daughter by his side. The duo explores Japanese home cooking, the Japanese restaurant scene, and the surprisingly high quality of Japanese convenience store foods.
One of the funniest books you’ll read all year, this excellent book is perfect gift for parents, chefs, or anyone who loves Mister Donut.
Need a gift for someone who is traveling to Japan for the first time, or a student of the Japanese language? This fun t-shirt ensures that every native speaker they run into will be encouraged to speak with them.
The romaji reading on this shirt is “Nihongo o benkyou shite imasu. Hanashi kakete kudasai,” meaning “I am studying Japanese. Please speak to me.”
This shirt is made from a cotton-poly blend, which minimizes the risk of shrinking. Please note this is a slim fit style, so order a size up if you desire a loose fit.
Sake is one of my favorite elements of Japanese culture. The drink is refined and versatile. You can find the perfect drink for any occasion. If you want the perfect serving container for any occasion as well, then you can’t go wrong with this cute Tanuki Sake Set. It comes with a decanting bottle and two cups.
If you are married to a sake lover, consider gifting them an extra nice sake set for your second anniversary. After all, it is traditionally the porcelain anniversary in the United States.
A rice cooker is one of those kitchen appliances that, once you own one, you can’t imagine how you ever lived without it. And this particular model is the Cadillac of rice cookers.
Beyond the basic cooking and warming functions, this specialized rice cooker offers a bunch of additional features. Among them are a low-steam mode (perfect for keeping humidity to a minimum in your kitchen during the summer months) and a crisping feature that allows you to perfectly brown and crisp the edges of the rice, a la clay pot rice dishes.
If you’re looking for a gift for someone who loves Japanese home cooking, a rice cooker is a great idea. However, if the price tag on this particular model is too high, we recommend a cheaper alternative: the Zojirushi NS-ZCC10. This is the model I have in my own home, and it’s become something I use multiple times a week.
If you’re looking to give this to your wife to coax her to make sushi more often, here’s a great tutorial to take the terror out of working with rice and raw fish.
Tokaido is a casual board game that is perfect for Japanophiles. In this game, two to five players traverse the country of Japan, attempting to savor the experience longer than their companions. This unusual mechanic leaves players trying to visit as many locations as possible without being the last one to show up to dinner.
It has a relatively short playtime, is easy to learn, and is decorated with colorful art that depicts the diverse beauty that is Japan.
The average American is more like to think of tea than coffee when guessing what caffeinated beverage is preferred in the land of the rising sun. But everywhere I went in Japan on my last trip, coffee culture was king…especially when it comes to precise, high-end brews.
If you are shopping for someone who loves coffee and Japanese culture in equal measure, a Japanese coffee brewing system makes the perfect gift.
This fun syphon brewer is designed by Japanese company Hario, and acts as both conversation piece and fancy coffee maker. While the brewing method takes a few attempts to perfect, the resulting coffee from this brewing method tends to be less “burned” tasting and more aromatic than traditional drip coffee. Plus, brewing a cup is more theatrical (and more precise) than other methods.
Need a gift for a fan of Japanese cinema? Many Kurosawa fans only knows his later works, so this collection of early films from the master of Japanese movies is a super gift idea.
This box set includes Sanshiro Sugata, Kurosawa’s debut film, as well as as The Most Beautiful (Ichiban utsukushiku). Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two, and the samurai film The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi).
This compilation of vintage Japanese pop is really high energy. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who loves Japanese music, music history, or anyone who collects unusual vinyl.
Hanami, or flower viewing, is the Japanese tradition of admiring the transient beauty of flowers. It culminates in the Sakura festival, which celebrates Japan’s iconic cherry blossom trees. This ornate snowglobe recreates the sensation of a constant blossom fall and serves as a beautiful reminder of nature’s beauty.
This Samurai sword-inspired umbrella from Kikkerland is a great way to keep yourself dry and to dissuade people from messing with you at the same time. This novelty umbrella has a realistic katana handle and comes with a nylon shoulder sheath, which makes it worth carrying even on a dry day. After all, you really feel like a samurai warrior when carrying this umbrella. This gift also appears in our roundup of the strangest gifts for men.
Whether its a long night of studying before an exam, or a long day of working a shift in a teaching hospital, many nursing students reach for a candy bar to keep their energy up. These KitKats are imported from Japan. Savvy candy aficionados have long known that Japan is famous for their unique and unusual KitKat flavors. This snack pack includes a variety of flavors that can be hard to find outside Japan, including green tea, Yokohama strawberry cheesecake, Japanese Sake, and even wasabi. Fun fact: KitKats are a popular “good luck” gift for students taking an exam in Japan. This is because the product’s name sounds very similar to the Japanese phrase kitto katsu, which means “you will surely win”. This tradition makes KitKats a great gift for students, even those outside of Japan.
This memoir by Paul Barach recounts his epic 750-mile religious pilgrimage to Japan, all of which was completed on foot during one of the hottest summers in Japanese history. Even if you’re not a Buddhist yourself, you’ll delight in Paul’s hilarious stories about his missteps and misadventures as he attempts to complete the solo journey without having a breakdown.
Daruma dolls are a traditional handcraft from Japan. They are sometimes called “wishing dolls” in the West. This is because it is traditional to make a wish or set a goal for yourself when you receive the doll.
You’ll notice the doll has no eyes. This is because a person is supposed to paint in the eyes themselves. You paint in the first eye when you set the goal, and only paint in the second eye after you have achieved your goal.
This cute mug is perfect for fans of the classic film My Neighbor Tortoro. The sides are decorated with characters and items from the movie, which are all labeled in both Japanese and English.
If you’re looking for a gift with visual appeal, these cute socks are perfect. Designed to look like a pack of take-out sushi, each container includes three pairs of fun, Japanese-inspired socks. This particular version comes with Tamago, Cucumber, and Salmon rolls. If you want to see more fun food socks then you can also check out our list of the best pizza gifts, which has some cute pizza socks from the same brand.
Kendama is a traditional Japanese toy, not unlike the Western “ball in a cup” game. Kendama is so well respected in Japan that people will often include the Kendama skills on business resumes. This is a great gift for both kids and adults. It is also listed on our list of the best gifts for teens.
Shopping for a fan of Japanese whiskey, but can’t find any bottles for sale near you? Get them this book instead, and further their knowledge of Japan’s great whiskey distilleries.
Know someone who is super excited about the Alita film? Help them get caught up on the story that inspired the movie with the complete box set of the original Japanese comics. This manga box set is translated to English but reads right to left as traditional manga does.
Not everyone has the time or money to fly to Japan and experience hot springs firsthand. This set of bath powders is the next best thing to booking an onsen visit, and it’s a fraction of the price of a plane ticket. This gift box contains 18 sachets of bath powders, each designed to help you relax and unwind at the end of a tough day.
Newly translated into English, this novel from legendary author Haruki Murakami is the perfect gift this holiday season. In typical Murakami style, this novel spans multiple themes and has an almost surrealistic feel in places. This is a tale of love, loneliness, and art that has been favorably compared to The Great Gatsby.
Origami, or the Japanese art of paper folding, has been around since the 17th century. This intricate craft can seem intimidating but with a little patience and the right paper, you’ll be folding cranes and dragons in no time. This set of origami paper contains 200 double-sided sheets in varying colors.
They are thin yet durable, making them perfect for origami. Just note that this paper doesn’t come with any instructions. You could buy a book to get them started but we suggest a simple website like this one to learn some beginner folding techniques.
The koinobori, or carp windsock, is a traditional Japanese decoration usually displayed in honor of Children’s Day. The meaning goes well beyond just that, though. The koi fish is a longstanding symbol of courage and strength because of its ability to swim up a waterfall.
A koi fish windsock is a pretty and meaningful decoration to celebrate your own inner strength. This website is a great place to get more information on this fascinating tradition.
Learning a language is not easy, especially if that language has three written writing systems like Japanese does. Numbers may be among the first a language student will learn but every bit of reinforcement will help immensely.
This ornate clock uses kanji numerals to help hammer in these fundamentals so that the student can focus more on expanding their vocabulary. It comes in a number of different sizes and colors.
A kamidana, god-shelf, is a traditional Japanese wall decoration related to Shinto prayer. Though it holds ritual importance for Shintoists, it also makes an attractive secular decoration. If you want to display it in accordance with tradition, be sure to mount it above eye level and away from areas that people will walk under.
Zen gardens are a vessel for meditation in the Buddhist tradition but you don’t have to chase enlightenment to appreciate this peaceful pastime. Instead of maintaining a full-size rock garden, you can focus in on this compact 4 x 3-inch desktop zen garden.
This Mini Zen Garden comes with rocks, sand, and several small figurines for you to decorate as you please. It also comes with a small rake to make those iconic water patterns in the sand.
The maneki neko, or Lucky Cat, is a classic souvenir from Japan. If you are shopping for someone who hasn’t had the chance to visit the country yet, consider gifting one of these small statuettes, which are meant to instill luck upon their owners.
This figure uses a small solar panel to keep the cats paw perpetually moving, making it a great desktop or dashboard decoration. The maneki neko figures have different meanings based on their colors, which you can learn about here. This white figure is for bringing joy and happiness into one’s life.
You’re shopping for someone who is obsessed with Japanese food. But they’ve already got nice chopsticks. And they’ve already got plenty of bento boxes. What’s next?
A rice bowl is the next logical step. These gorgeous porcelain bowls are deep and tall, making them perfect for a heaping bowl of stir-fry with rice or a brothy bowl of ramen. They are dishwasher and microwave safe.
Hanami, or flower viewing, is the Japanese tradition of admiring the transient beauty of flowers. It culminates in the Sakura festival, which celebrates Japan’s iconic cherry blossom trees. This ornate snowglobe recreates the sensation of a constant blossom fall and serves as a beautiful reminder of nature’s beauty.
Japanese hand fans date back to the 6th century as a way to keep cool and express modesty. This beautiful recreation from OMyTea is a great decoration that also acts as a functional fan when the summer heat starts to overwhelm you. It is made from silk and bamboo as they have been for hundreds of years.
Japan is known for making high-quality inks for calligraphy and brush art. This E-Sumi Watercolor Paint set from Boku-Undo is a fantastic palette for trying your hand at creating ink watercolor art. This palette includes six colors of ink, which are perfect for recreating dark and moody night scenes. Note that this set does not come with paint brushes, so if this isn’t for a painter already, then consider gifting them a set of brushes as well.
Shopping for an anime fan, but have no idea what show they’re binging right now? This all-purpose hoodie will appeal to all anime fans. It’s available in multiple colors and sizes for men and women.
Shiba Inu dogs are one of the most popular breeds in Japan, and they are also loved around the world. This cute shiba inu plushie is a great gift for kids or adults who love the snuggly, sleepy faces of this wonderful breed.
