Toyozo Nishijima, president of rice dealer Suzunobu located in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, shows a package used to send rice in return for new baby gifts.
Joe Ichiki and Shigeko Suzuki
Increasing number of new parents are sending rice as return gifts to those who celebrated their baby’s birth. Rice dealers are adopting new ideas, such as offering a rice package weighing the same as a newborn baby with the baby’s photo and name printed. The dealers are selling the products mainly online to seek new demand amid decline in rice consumption.
Suzunobu, a rice dealer of Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, sells a package of rice whose weight can be adjusted by grams to match the weight of a newborn baby. The shop used to receive an order for the product only once every three months, but after it started receiving orders online, orders began coming in every week.
The store offers a plain rice bag so that people can decide what to print on it, including photographs, illustrations and messages such as “Both mother and child are doing fine.”
“Many people send it to their parents who live far away or to their close friends,” said Suzunobu President Toyozo Nishijima. “By sending a rice package weighing the same as the newborn baby, those who received it can feel like they are actually carrying the baby.”
Customers can also choose the rice brand to put in the package from different varieties that Suzunobu produces in cooperation with rice farmers nationwide. The price of the product changes according to the brand and amount of rice. “Rice dealers are at an advantage because they can differentiate their products in terms of quality. I’m sure more dealers will start offering similar products,” Nishijima said.
Hachidaime Gihei, a traditional Japanese restaurant in Kyoto which offers rice gifts online, says return gifts occupy some 70 percent of its online sales, most of which are sent in return to those who gave new baby gifts. Rice products offered by the firm as return gifts are priced between JPY1,000 and more than JPY30,000. The most popular product is junihitoe (twelve-layered ceremonial kimono) series, which is a package of 2 go (1 go is 142 grams) of 12 different blended rice varieties wrapped in colorful furoshiki wrapping cloths. The 3.6 kg package is priced at JPY5,000 without tax.
The product is popular also because customers can include a message card and a picture free of charge. “If rice is used as return gifts, it can be eaten by a wide range of generation,” said Yu Matsushita, manager of the firm’s brand strategy division.
At major department store Isetan Mitsukoshi Ltd., rice ranked second after beef tsukudani (beef boiled down in sweetened soy sauce) in the list of popular return gifts sold online. The firm offers a JPY5,400 package of koshihikari premium brand rice produced in Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture, made to weigh the same as a newborn baby. The baby’s name, birth date and the weight at the time of birth can be printed on the label. “The product is popular because it can be sent to anyone regardless of age,” said the firm’s spokesman.
(Sept. 16, 2015)