With 1,100 yen to buy gifts for Mom, but no other directions, what will they come out with?

Japan celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, just like the U.S. does. With the special day approaching, our Japanese-language reporter Natsuno Futon decided to organize a little activity for her two elementary school-age daughters.

With the older sister being in the fourth grade and the younger in the first, they’re not old enough yet to do completely independent shopping runs, but they are big enough to handle picking things out in a store and paying for them. So Natsuno accompanied the girls to one of her local branches of 100 yen shop Seria, gave them 1,100 yen (US$7.10), enough for 10 items and sales tax, and asked them to put together a Mother’s Day present bundle of things they thought she’d like.

Seria has a lot of branches that are inside shopping malls, but for safety’s sake Natsuno chose a stand-alone shop with a single small entrance/exit.

As the girls made their way inside, Natsuno stationed herself outside, though she did peek through the windows to keep an eye on them.

But while she could see the girls, she couldn’t see what was on the shelves they were looking at. With her sense of anticipation building, Natsuno was surprised when, after about 10 minutes of scouring the store, her daughters came back to the entrance, popped their heads out, and asked:

“Mom, how big are your feet?”

Natsuno answered the question, but didn’t ask any of her own, and so her kids scurried back into the shop. After another 20 minutes, they emerged with the Mother’s Day gifts they’d picked out, still hidden inside their shopping bag. Once the trio was back home, though, it was time for Natsuno to receive her early presents.

First up: a pack of facial skin care treatment masks, which start out as little discs that expand into masks after you soak them in lotion.

Natsuno’s younger daughter had been the one who picked this out, and she explained her logic with:

“I think maybe these will help with the bumps on your face.”

OK, so maybe this wasn’t the most delicate way to refer to the acne breakouts that Natsuno has recently had, but that doesn’t change the fact that these masks still will come in handy.

Next were some artificial flowers.

“We remembered you saying that you like yellow flowers,” the sisters explained, and Natsuno was genuinely happy that they’d filed that information away for future use. Now, if Natsuno were picking out flowers herself, would she have chosen an arrangement that’s traditionally used as an offering at graves or alters for deceased ancestors in Japan, as her daughters unknowingly did? No, probably not, but still, this was a sweet gesture on their part.

▼ 仏花/bukka translates literally to “Buddha flowers,” and denotes flower arrangements for the deceased

Natsuno got to know why her daughters had asked about her foot size when she saw that they’d picked out two pairs of socks for her.

Among 100 yen chains in Japan, Seria is known for having a comparatively classy design sense, and they’ve got plenty of elegant or understated socks on offer. Natsuno’s kids, though, had picked out two novelty pairs for her, one showing a schoolgirl with the sort of heavy makeup and loose socks that were in vogue in the late ‘90s/early 2000s, and the other with a shocked manga character shouting “What?!? Break time is over already?”

Natsuno isn’t sure she’ll ever be going to a function that allows her to wear these socks outside the house, but honestly…she likes the way they look. And as a bonus, the fact that her kids picked them out for her means that whenever she does slip these socks on at home, they’re going to feel extra warm and cozy.

Next in the bundle was a pack of Licca-chan stickers.

Licca-chan is Japan’s most popular doll, and has been so ever since Natsuno herself was a little kid. Natsuno has been on a bit of a Licca-chan nostalgia kick recently, and just like with yellow flowers, her daughters had remembered hearing her talk about how much she likes the doll and her fashions.

There may have been a little bit of an ulterior motive here. As we’ve mentioned before, sticker collecting, and trading, is having a huge revival in popularity in Japan these days. Natsuno and her daughters have all gotten in on the hobby, and so when she asked them “Do you want to trade with me for some of the Licca-chan figures?”, her daughters’ smiles showed that they’d somewhat expected this scenario.

But hey, you’ve got to give stickers to get stickers in a trade, so equipping Mom with resources for some fun communication and negotiating still falls within the bounds of a thoughtful present, in its own way.

Natsuno’s favorite gift in the bundle is also actually something that her daughters plan to use: a stationery set.

Why is it Natsuno’s favorite? Because her daughters want to use it to write letters to her, another thoughtful way of adding lines of communication between them.

And now we come to the last four items, one of which is a fashionably understated hair clip, while the other three are a just a bit more…unique.

There’s a hair clip shaped like some sort of googly-eyed monster…

…another hair clip shaped like a slice of kalbi (beef short rib) on the bone…

…and, finally, a bright green poop-shaped key holder.

Looking over the entire array, Natsuno began to piece together the image that her daughters have of their mom. Judging from the mix of useful, sweet, mysterious, and gag items, apparently, they think that she’s someone who’s practically minded but also has a serious goofy streak, which Natsuno, admits, is a very accurate assessment.

Not only is Natsuno very satisfied with her daughters’ selection, she was very happy to see the big smiles they had on their faces as they finished their shopping mission. Her older daughter is earnest and reserved, while the younger girl is a more happy-go-lucky sort. Despite their opposite personalities, the two of them were able to put their minds together and enjoy the time they spent together working towards a common goal, and that happy memory is something Natsuno, as a mom, will cherish too.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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