Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. Today’s topic is Oseibo (お歳暮).
We have a gift-giving season in the middle of December, too. The year-end gift is called oseibo. It orginated from the old tradition of bringing food such as fish, rice cakes and sake to the head houses of the family from branch houses. Nowadays, this gift-giving custom is to show appreciation to those who have been kind and helpful in business or privately during the year. The gift items for oseibo are almost the same as those given for mid-summer gifts (ochugen). In the past, people presented their gifts in person, however now it has become more common to send them with a greeting card directly from a store or a post office.

December 5th News, from NILS Japanese language school.