I did a small survey ;) asked some Japanese people I know what kind of small gifts would make them happy.

Cute / fancy paper napkins (usually quite expensive in Japan)
chocolates / candy (do not have to be Godiva per se)
honey (but can be too heavy to carry)
salad dressing ( dry powdered mix)
hand cream
from Boston area -- Harvard goodies.. pen, pencil

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Fancy paper napkins? Wow, what a great idea! Definitely on MY list for my next visit to Japan! Thanks, minamax10! :-)

Kja, paper napkins ;) Who would have thought, right!
will add other things else if I can think of something.

forgot to add: tea
black tea OR herbal tea (tea bags ok). for example "celestial seasonings" maybe with flavours that are unusual and not easily found in Japan.

Interesting teas. So looking forward to your report and especially your pictures. Have a great time!

Ugh...autocorrect. That should have been interesting thread!

Uuugh, I got the bean-t0-bar chocolate made in London but I have not found small London-made (and labelled) honey yet. I have a couple of weeks left...

I’ve been to Japan 40+ times. Most of the trips have been to visit my customers. Before I knew better, I would bring our standard company chachkies… flashlights, ink pens, calendars. All these were OK and appreciated, but I’ve since learned to get something more personal to one’s interests. Imaoka-san likes to build models with his son so I got him a model of a WWII airplane (not one that bombed Japan!). Yamanaka-san is a big baseball fan so I got him a baseball signed by Hasegawa-san, as an Angel. Ogawa-san is an amateur scuba diver so I got him a book of the fish of Hawaii. All these gifts were accepted with much greater enthusiasm. Regardless of what you get, make sure to wrap it well.
One of my customers from Japan visited me last week and brought me an assorted box of cookies/crackers that they obviously picked up in Narita airport before their departure.

If you can somehow get ahold of Sees Candy from out here in California, a lot of people like them because they know the brand name and know it is Westcoast.

If you can personalize the gift that is the best way to go but if you need something for general purposes, some small but unique food is always appreciated because people love to share with their family or coworkers.

Wow, some more great suggestions! I love the idea of fancy cocktail napkins! They are light and they pack easily. I also love the idea of picking of some Harvard branded keychains or something. Everyone does know "Harvard", probably better than "Boston" : )

As many of you know, I do love photography and I'm meeting up with some photographers in Tokyo and Kyoto. I promise to report back with images.

Thanks again for all your great ideas!

I did small boxes of See's candy's that had a red white and blue "america" motif on the packaging, and put them each in small colorful gift bags with tissue, which packs easily and stays neat until you need it. They were a big hit!

I recently came back from Japan and one of our Goodwill Guides mentioned how expensive honey was there. It is probably a pain to travel with, but I thought I'd bring either locally produced honey or even those honey bears (that they sell at Costco) as gifts for the next time I visit Japan.

I really wanted to take honey on my last trip, but couldn't find any that was made in London, and ideally I wanted small size jars. I did take the locally made small batch bean-to-bar chocolate which I think went down well. But honey would have been lovely - we ran across two shops selling nothing but honey, of different floral varieties. So lovely.