Package with Care

Returning home to America, one of the things I missed most about Japan was not the food (thought it was greatly missed!) but the way items are packaged. Everything is done with care and attention to small details here. I know it’s considered a stereotype but it is true.

From the local conbini to your high-end designer gifts, everything is packaged with the intent to keep your items private and looking good—not to mention, with the intent to advertise! Tissues are handed out in the streets, a tiny paper slip showing a store name and contact details, bags are taped shut at 7/11s and in department stores to hide your purchases from prying eyes and to keep them from slipping out. Store clerks offer to put your previous purchases into their bigger bag, so everyone can see their label, clothes are folded, put in gauze or plastic and taped shut to keep them looking as fabulous as they were in the store.

Browsing in the mall back home in America, I was relieved to find everything cheap, cheap, cheap! I was not happy when they just shoved my clothes in a bag, without bothering to fold them (or doing a half-way job of it) after getting used to my items being treated with as much care as I spent on them. Or, in some cases, more care than what I had spent on them!

Buying chocolates, gifts for the holiday seasons, or jewery is an even bigger treat—you can watch as they box, wrap, and fold shiny ribbon over your newest purchase until unwrapping the package is just as much fun as buying it.