This is Omiyage! There are many different types of omiyage (souvenirs), but in Japan, Omiyage nowadays specifically refers to regional sweets. There are 47 prefectures in Japan, and each prefecture has its own specialty omiyage.
Whenever anyone goes on a trip in Japan, it is customary to bring back omiyage for their co-workers. This works out great for me, because with so many teachers, there are many chances to grab some!
The tradition, I hear, started in Japan a long time ago when travel was very difficult. Often times there would be a standout student or citizen of a village. The Japanese people knew that it was important to send this smarty out into the world to learn more. So villages would pull their resources together, for years sometimes, to save up enough to send their person from, lets say Yamaguchi, to lets say Hokkaido.
Because so much time, money and effort goes into this trip, the traveller needed to bring back something from their destination to prove that they actually went. That they made it, and didn't get sidetracked in Kyoto with some geishas or what have you. Or so I've heard.
I rarely eat breakfast, so I am always excited to see what kind of omiyage is on the special omiyage table each morning. :D Well, usually Mondays. Monday morning or the morning after a holiday, I can expect lots of sweet bean paste sweets.
BTW, when I brought back tortilla chips and salsa, and Sour belts from my America Christmas trip last year---THAT was the best omiyage ever. Japanese teachers treat eating sour belts like eating grenades; they are so scared.
When my brother went to Japan as an exchange student long ago, he brought me back a little package of biscuits that I just couldn't bring myswlf to eat. Each package had one long biscuit and with a round biscuit on top. The individual cellophane packages had little faces and hairstyles and dresses on them so each little biscuit looked like a tiny doll. They were the cutest things ever! - G
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