Lost in Translation: from Omiyage to Souvenir

Abstract

Centering on the analysis of the omiyage (gifts brought back from trips for family, friends and colleagues) in Japan, this article describes the Japanese office ladies’ (OLs) practices of consumption in Hawaii. In contemporary Japan, foreign goods, especially brand name ones, are not only bearers of intrinsic aesthetic value but are forms negotiating OLs’ emancipatory social action. Based on interviews with OLs visiting Hawaii’s shopping scene between 1994 and 2004, this article explores the nature and evolution of the Japanese omiyage, analyzing its metamorphosis and trespasses, along with issues of internationalization and consumption. These changes delineate an historical transformation from a traditional culture characterized by a non-individualistic, others-oriented omiyage practice, to a material one, self-oriented and characterized by a form of Occidentalism, fetishized fads and style-status symbols.

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