Every trip, I swear I will be sensible about Japan souvenirs, and every trip my suitcase proves me wrong. This time was no different. Here is everything we squeezed in, plus the two impulse buys I regret nothing about.
1. Incense
Five boxes of incense. Japanese incense is subtle and calming, nothing like the heavy smoke I grew up with at home (Hindu household, so we are not amateurs). A stick in the evening and suddenly my living room feels like a temple courtyard.
2. Bath Towels
Also five. Japanese bath towels are thin, soft and dry in what feels like minutes. Once you have used one, the fluffy, never quite dry towels back home start to feel like a personal attack.
3. Bento Box
Because if I am going to eat lunch at my desk, I am going to do it beautifully. A proper bento box makes leftovers feel like a meal someone planned on purpose.
4. Lacquer Box
The grown up purchase of the trip. Glossy, elegant and far too pretty to hold anything ordinary. It will probably end up storing my jewellery, or nothing at all, and just be admired.
5. Bath Salt
Japan takes bathing seriously, and bath salts let you bring a little of that home. My bathtub is not an onsen, but with the right salts and some imagination, it gets close.
6. Pillow
Yes, we carried a pillow home from Japan. Do not ask how it fit. Once you have slept on one, you understand.
7. Omamori
Little good luck charms from the shrines, each for something specific, from safe travels to health to success. I always buy a few, for us and for the people we love. They hang in the car, sit in my bag and go on every trip after.
Best Impulse Buys
Onigiri with a gacha inside. Japan understands me. Something that looks like an onigiri, with a little surprise inside, is exactly the kind of thing I did not need and immediately had to have.
Bath salt with a gacha inside. A bath and a surprise toy in one? Dissolve the salt, find the prize. I am a grown woman with a mortgage mindset, and I was thrilled.
Japan souvenirs have a way of turning into little rituals once you are home. The incense in the evening, the towel after a shower, the omamori swinging from the car mirror. Each one is a small reminder of the trip long after the photos stop getting looked at. And as for the gacha, I already know I will be back for more.
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[…] by now that I love Japan, so it won’t surprise anyone that half my luggage allowance goes on Japan souvenirs. One of the things I love most about this country is the sheer abundance of cute stuff. Buying it […]