STUFF THEY DON’T TEACH YOU IN JAPANESE SCHOOL: Money for Nothing
Sometimes Japan’s gift-giving culture can make life really complicated. Having to leave half your suitcase empty so that you have room to put in souvenirs for all your co-workers, or trying to figure out if the money envelopes at the department store are for funerals or weddings can be a nuisance, but this is only the tip of the gift-giving iceberg.
Throughout the year, and on countless occasions in daily life, Japanese people are socially obligated to slip little envelopes filled with cash to one another. Here are some of the more famous and interesting ones:
Otoshidama (???) – Most Japanese children and teens look forward to New Years a lot more than they do to Christmas because they know that they’re going to be New Year’s gift money from each and every older relative of working age. Elementary school students get about ¥1000-5000 per relative, junior high students take in ¥3000-10,000, and high school kids get ¥3000-20000.
Average take: ¥50,000
Senbetsu (??) – Farewell money is given to someone who is moving, going on a long trip or quitting her job to get married. Recent university graduates about to go on a working holiday can expect anywhere from ¥10,000 to ¥50,000 from close relatives, and workers who are being transferred or quitting their jobs to get married get anywhere from ¥1000 to ¥10,000 per co-worker (depending on their rank within the company). When people are quitting their company, they often get gift certificates or a present in lieu of cash.
Average take: ¥50,000
Sharei (??) – If you’re about to go under the knife, it’s probably best to slip the doctor a little gratitude money in an envelope before the operation. Although it’s technically illegal and is not as common as it once was, many patients still pay it.
Average payment: ¥300,000 – 1,000,000
Tegirekin (????) – When a man terminates a relationship with a hostess or mistress, he pays her separation money. The amount depends, of course, on his income, how long they’ve been going out, and how much trouble it would cause him if she revealed intimate details to his wife or company.
Average take: ¥100,000
Okozukai (????) – Okozukai can mean pocket money when parents give it to children, but when a man gives spending money to a mistress, the word takes on a completely different meaning.
Average payout: ¥300,000 per month
Kaiki Iwai (????) – If someone has helped you out or visited you a lot while you were sick or hospitalized, it is customary to pay them recovery celebration money. The amount is usuallly one third of the estimated value of presents or cash gifts that you received while ill.
Average payment: ¥3000-10,000
Isharyou (???) – If you’re ever involved in a fender bender or get hit by a car, make sure you get your consolation money, which is paid for your mental suffering and is over and above the cost of car repairs and hospital treatment. It is also paid out in divorces in the case of infidelity or spouse abuse. Minor accidents and injuries start at about ¥20,000.
Reikin (??) – The most famous of Japan’s courtesy payments, this money is paid to landlords for the privilege of moving into their buildings.
Average payment: two months’ rent
Goshuugi (???) – If you’ve passed an important examination, been accepted into, or graduated from school, or won an important prize, or gotten married, you might get some congratulatory money.
Average take: ¥10,000-30,000
Kenshoukin (???) – When you see banners being paraded around the ring before a sumo match, it means that there is prize money on the table. Each banner represents one sponsor, and for every sponsor, the winning wrestler takes home ¥30,000.