Pretty Japanese Packaging

We traveled to Japan this spring with family, and I am blogging about the highlights here! (Click here for more posts about our trip and Japanese culture.)

One of the novel things about shopping in Japan is that nearly every purchase was wrapped in some way before being handed back to us. Environmental concerns aside, this made shopping special. Even if the purchase was for me, I got to unwrap it!

Most places used simple paper bags, sealed with a piece of tape or a sticker with the company name. One shop in particular did a lovely job - a yosegi shop in Hakone. Yosegi is the process of adhering different species of wood rods together in a mosaic-like pattern. Once fully bonded, the wood is thinly sliced to make veneers for all sorts of items.

Here's G. examining some trays to get for his family.

Each piece we purchased was put into a custom-sized box with care instructions, then wrapped in a botanical-print paper.

Even a little toy top got its own bag.

Nice, eh? The only downside is that we have to unwrap each one to remember which tray goes to which relative! What about you - have you been somewhere where purchases are carefully packaged? Did it change your experience of shopping?

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