From 2009: Omiyage is the art of gift giving. It is a tradition that we follow here in the United States. Japan is a perfect place to finding something that's unique. More than in most places, the Japanese continue to excel at a wide range of traditional arts and crafts, with regional gift specialties, called meibutsu, renowned for their quality workmanship and aesthetic appeal. From Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south, Japan offers distinctive, high-quality arts and crafts. Gift-giving is something of an art in Japan, where a gift, omiyage in Japanese, successfully given honors the recipient, starting with the quality of the presentation. Gifts are traditionally carried in beautiful, printed squares of fabric called furoshiki. Presented as a scarf, for which they double nicely, they make a uniquely Japanese fashion statement back
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