Corporate Gifts in the Land of the Rising Sun

Corporate gift giving is naturally of great importance in the land of the rising sun, where company life is, well, life itself for many. The Japanese love a gift – it communicates respect, appreciation and friendship. When meeting a new Japanese business associate or colleague you will be expected to participate in the centuries old gift-giving ceremony.

Gifts do not have to be of high value, although if they are, this will not be considered a bribe or insulting. For senior Japanese executives however, the gifts should be higher quality with increasing rank. This etiquette is important to observe and failure to do so will cause offense.

Gifts should be wrapped, but the paper should neither be too bright nor white. Be especially wary of white, which symbolizes death – and never give things in sets of four, because the word for four, “shi”, closely resembles the word for death. This probably rules out golf balls, unfortunately. The Japanese can be very superstitious about this.

Both hands must always be used to present a gift, or even a business card.

You cannot simply turn up with a gift unexpectedly, except on occasions where it will be obvious you are giving something, such as a first meeting. Instead, you should let drop some kind of subtle hint that you would like to present a small token of respect or memento in the near future.

When the gift is for a group, make sure that all are assembled before making the presentation – and bear in mind that it is considered extremely rude to present a gift to only one recipient. It must either be presented to the whole group, or a gift given to each individual member.

The gift itself should be downplayed as much as possible. This is usual in all Asian cultures. The friendship should be allowed to come to the forefront rather than the material object which is symbolic of it.

Monetary gifts or ones displaying the company logo are not usually acceptable in Japan.

As for when to present your gift, the end of a visit is the best time. Business gifts are presented at mid-year, i.e. on the 15th of July, and at the end of the year, on January the 1st.

It is not difficult to choose a gift for a Japanese person, although as has been mentioned, if multiple gifts are to be made, a strict ranking of worth is essential according to company position. Products which are unavailable in Japan are always welcome, as are extremely expensive ones. Pens are highly appropriate as gifts for Japanese colleagues, because the pen is a symbol of knowledge. It is also easy to pack.

Gift giving in the Pacific rim is not as formal and ritual-bound as it is in Japan, but here, too, the importance of the gift should be downplayed and in addition it is considered polite to show slight reluctance in accepting a gift.

Corporate gifts are a bit more problematic in China, where giving gifts to officials was banned during the communist regime. Gift-giving is enjoying a popular resurgence, but to avoid giving the impression that it is a bribe, the following guidelines should be observed: your gift should not be too expensive, should carry the company logo and preferably be presented to a group rather than to a single executive.