Average type (origin or
donor) Average type
9 box of fruits and vegetables (from f., k.,
w.) 17 box of fruits and vegetables (from
k.w.)
3 bottles of soya (from k.) 3
bottles of soya (from k. and w.)
6 towels
(from sh., n. 18 towels (from sh.,
n.)
13 tissue paper and handkerchief (sh.
and t.) 35 tissue paper and handkerchief (sh.
ant.)
4 pencils (from sh., t. and
advertising agencies) 13 pencils (sh., b.s,
s.s)
9 stationery (from b.s and
sh.) 12 stationery (from b.s, sh.
acq)
1 plate (from b.) 3 plates and decorations
(from b.s)
6 boxes of seaweed (from k.) 5
boxes of seaweed (from k. and w.)
9
packets of tea (from f. and k.) 9 packets of tea (f.,
k. and w.)
4 bottles of alcoholic drinks
(whisky, sake, shoyu, others) 15 bottles of alcoholic
drinks
22 cakes (from n., w., s.,
f., k.) 28 cakes (from n., w., s., k.,
f.)
5 books (s.s and f.) 3 books
(s.s and f.)
1 amulet 9 amulets
(festivals, k., and temple)
8 boxes of colours
(s., acq) 12 boxes of colours (s. acq)
-
bi-monthly giving of pictures (from extramural activities) - monthly or more
often giving of pictures
16 boxes/bars chocolate (from
s. and w.) 19 boxes/bars chocolate (s. and
w.)
3 bags of rice (from
n.)
- weekly food (bread, sweet rice) 5 bags of
coal and wood (from n.)
8 toys (from k.
and f.) 15 toys (k. and f.,
n.)
3 sets of envelopes (from w. and
funeral gifts) 5 sets of envelopes (from
w.f.)
2 calculators (from funeral gifts) 9
kitchen appliances (from acq, w.)
1 apron
(thanks gift from k. or w.) 3 aprons (k., w., and
sh.)
12 bags of crisps (k., from
t. office and acq) 29 bags of crisps (acq, t. office,
k.)
1 toothbrush or other toiletries
(sh.) 9 toiletries (sh., w.,
acq)
3 boxes of beer (colleagues and k.) 8
boxes of beer (n., w. and k.)
1
salt and sugar (k.) 3 boxes of coffee and tea sets (a. and
k.)
2 boxes of meat products (a.
k.)
2 boxes of sugar wrapped sticks for tea
(a.)
2 boxes of melons (w.,
acq)
1 nuts (acq)
6 tofu
(k.) 2 tofu (k.)
11 Kg omochi (from
t. events, festivals and k.) 3 Kg omochi (t. events,
festivals)
2 umeboshi pickles(from k. and close
f.) 6 umeboshi pickles(k., w., and
f.)
3 boxes of mushroom (from n.,
w.) 12 boxes of mushroom (k., n.,
w.)
1 set of mushroom building block
(s.)
6 boxes/pieces fish (k.) 24
boxes/pieces fish (w., k.)
5 sets of
coffee (bags) (k., acq) 12 sets of coffee (w.,
k.)
1 gloves and 6 pieces of clothing for
children (k.) 3 pieces of furniture
(k.)
3 boxes dried fish 3 pieces of
bedclothing (k., t.)
2 boxes of pulses
(k., acq) 6 boxes dried fish
1 set of colour
fish for children
3 flowers (s., f.) 4
boxes of other fish
1 set of chopstics (s. ) 20
can juice 1 set of trays (s.)
3 trays of
left-over food from parties 6 accounts of money (k.,
w.,
an average of Y.250,000 although it could be
larger if funerals, weddings or other costly
occasions)
6 flowers (s., f.,
teachers)
3 boxes of can juice and 25
canjus
(w.,
k.).
3 dolls from a trip
(friend)
6 envelopes with money (w., acq,
k.)
4 tickets for the onzen
(w.)
2 small bells
(festival)
1 set of trays
(s.)
1 set of chopstics
(s.)
these items for their own consumption in the market or from their gardens.
Most exchange is predicated upon the twin idea of ‘pragmatism’, and
‘taking care’ of the recipients’
domestic economy by ‘saving’ them from buying things they would need
for their normal household consumption. Precisely because of the focus of the
villagers as a rural entity within an urban society, the sociological approach
underlines homogeneous traits and ‘traditional’ patterns at the
expense of a large flexibility in the conception of gift exchange, dismissing
most of this exchange. My fieldwork experience, by contrast, suggests that there
is a great deal of very significant uses of gifts in which the giver and
recipient reconstruct exchange as a form of intimate, close, familiar worlds
(David 1986: 19), worlds that the rural relocation broke up and simultaneously
imposed. However, the patterns of ‘smallness’ that the exchange
brings about do not reconstruct the kind of intimate world of the
‘past’, but generate new perceptions of local arrangements,
familiarity, size, and belonging among those who are or are not a
‘group’. Each household retains a sense of
‘independence’ from neighbours, and defines the limits of its own
economic achievement despite the sense of ‘kinship’ recreated with
the gifts.