By Porter Lang
If you are going to Japan in late autumn, or sending something to someone who lives there, December has a gift custom with its own calendar, its own wrapping and a short list of things not to give. It is called oseibo. This guide sets out what three sources say, where they differ, and what to check before you buy anything.
What it is
A lifestyle site on Japanese gifting, Jeepe, describes oseibo as a year-end gift to thank people for their support over the past year. Another source, a blog run by a Japanese gift retailer, says the word combines an honorific prefix with seibo, meaning end of year, and lists bosses, clients, teachers, close friends and distant relatives as recipients. Jeepe lists parents, relatives, teachers of cultural lessons, supervisors and business clients. It adds that oseibo usually becomes an annual custom, so you should give only to people you can keep thanking each year.
Where it comes from
Nippon.com, a Japan-focused news and culture site, says oseibo and its summer counterpart, chugen, both grew out of offerings to ancestors: chugen tied to midsummer, seibo to New Year, when families welcomed ancestral spirits home. It says that in the Edo period merchants began giving gifts to their best customers at the twice-yearly accounting periods, and that department stores later promoted the custom nationwide. Jeepe says the custom likely grew from married daughters and branch families bringing food offerings to the main family. The retailer’s blog also gives a long account of earlier customs, which we left out because it could not be checked against a second page. We note the religious roots only as background and do not build on them.
The calendar, side by side
The three sources do not agree on dates. We show each.
- Jeepe: early December to about 25 December overall. In Kanto, early December to about 20 December; in Kansai, mid-December to about 25 December. The traditional start is 13 December, the day New Year preparations begin. Some people in Kanto start in late November.
- The retailer’s blog: in eastern Japan, late November to about 20 December; in western Japan, 13 to 20 December.
- Nippon.com: seibo is generally sent until mid-December, though increasingly sent earlier. Fresh food for New Year can go in late December, but confirm that the recipient will be home.
Our reading: if you do not know where the recipient lives, aim for the first half of December and you fall inside every window above.
If you miss it
Jeepe sets out a fallback. Use the wording onenga until matsu-no-uchi, which it dates to 7 January in Kanto and 15 January in Kansai. After that, use kanchu o-ukagai or kanchu omimai until the day before Risshun, around 3 February. Nippon.com gives a slightly different range: onenga from 1 to 7 January, 15 January in Kansai, and kanchumimai until about 4 February. The February date differs by a day, and we report both.
What people give
Jeepe names ham, Western sweets, coffee, seasonings and seafood, plus catalogue gifts. Nippon.com names foods such as noodles, seasonings and fruit, and useful daily goods like soap or detergent. Jeepe’s practical advice: when you do not know the family’s details, choose individually wrapped baked goods and long-lasting seasonings. It says to avoid blades, combs, handkerchiefs, footwear, cash and gift certificates. It does not explain why, and neither do we.
Wrapping and noshi
Both Jeepe and Nippon.com describe wrapping as part of the gift. Jeepe says to use a red-and-white mizuhiki cord tied in a butterfly knot, labelled oseibo, with your name below the cord. Nippon.com says the wrappers carry mizuhiki cords and a noshi decoration, which symbolise prayers for the recipient’s happiness, and that gifts go in noshigami paper. It adds that department stores may use an easy-to-remove wrapper instead. If the recipient is in mourning, Jeepe says, avoid the red-and-white cord and noshi, use plain white wrapping, and generally wait until after the 49-day mourning period.
Delivery
Both sources say department store or online delivery is common today. Jeepe says the gift was traditionally carried in person wrapped in furoshiki, and suggests delivery windows of 10 to 11 in the morning or 2 to 4 in the afternoon. Both recommend a short message, which Jeepe calls an okurijo. Nippon.com says recipients should send a brief thank-you letter in return.
One business caution
Jeepe warns that some organisations restrict gifts, and that national civil servants cannot accept them even when labelled as oseibo. If you are sending to a business contact, ask first.
Oseibo and ochugen
Jeepe says ochugen is the summer gift, around July, for the first half of the year. Oseibo covers the whole year and is considered slightly more formal. Nippon.com, though, notes late greetings for the summer one, shochumimai until about 7 August and zanshomimai until about 7 September, which, in our reading, suggests how loosely the dates are held.
Dates in order
- 13 December: traditional start of New Year preparations and the oseibo season, according to Jeepe.
- About 20 December: end of the Kanto window, according to Jeepe and the retailer’s blog.
- About 25 December: end of the Kansai window, according to Jeepe.
- 1 to 7 January: onenga, according to Nippon.com and Jeepe.
- About 3 or 4 February: end of the late-greeting period, according to Jeepe and Nippon.com.
What kind of sources these are
Jeepe is a lifestyle information site, the retailer’s blog is promotional, and Nippon.com is a Japan-focused news site. None is a government or cultural body. Gift etiquette varies by region and family, and we read no etiquette authority.
What we left out
The price range Jeepe gave, named alcoholic gifts, which we cut, brand and store names, and the retailer’s account of older rites, which we could not check.
Quick answers
When is oseibo sent?
According to Jeepe, the window runs from early December to about 25 December, earlier in Kanto than Kansai, and the traditional start is 13 December.
What should you not give as oseibo?
Jeepe advises avoiding blades, combs, handkerchiefs, footwear, cash and gift certificates. It does not give reasons.
What is the difference between oseibo and ochugen?
Jeepe says ochugen is the summer gift, around July, while oseibo is the year-end gift and is considered slightly more formal.
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