Japanese Culture Question: Baseball & Gifts?

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Yggdrasil

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Also, I have been wearing it around the house as a lounge coat...is that the correct use of it, or is it for specific occasions, like festivals, etc?
OK, last year I had a nice visit with an older Japanese fellow from Osaka. A Japanese-American friend of mine and I took him to a Minnesota Twins baseball game. We got along wonderfully...and, as a parting gift, I bought him a set of the Ken Burns "Baseball" DVD...not really an extravagant gift, but something I thought he would enjoy.

Anyway, he liked it a lot. So, a few weeks later, I received a package from Japan. Figuring it was a new anime I had ordered, I set it aside. Then, I noticed it was from him. Inside was an absolutely beautiful Happi Coat and a wonderful book on Ikebana. I mean, this had to cost him a small fortune,

I asked my Japanese-America friend about it and he said, "That's Japan for you." I mean, I maybe spent $40 on the DVDs...and he spent a small fortune. I sent him a nice thank you card. My friend said "that is all you need to do in thanks...anything else will just embarrass him."

Is my friend right on about this? The gift just seemd SO extravagant.

Help please?
BTW, I have no idea how my additional comments got posted ABOVE my question? LOLOL
Not too many Japanese festivals here in SE South Dakota. LOL Maybe I could send him an autographed baseball or something like that? I have an extra Nolan Ryan ball around here somewhere...I'm sure he'd like that. I just don't want to get into a gift giving frenzy. :-)
 
Japanese culture,etiquette,......reciprocation of gift/s ;These relative statuses may reflect and individual's age,gender,or social role or may reflect relationship among different social institution. Did i answer your
question correctly? i think yes
 
yeah a happi coat is used only at festivals. but hey, when are you gonna go to a japanese festival anytime soon? i'm half japanese so i'm with your mate about the gift thing, but if you really feel compelled to give him something back, maybe just get him something small, but still meaningful. maybe ask him if he wants anything from the states?
 
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