I travel between Hawaii and Japan about twice a year. While most people bring clothes and toiletries in their bag, I bring omiyage. Japanese-Americans have adopted the tradition of omiyage from their Japanese-Japanese brethren. My island has macadamia nuts and Kona coffee as its most famous gift-giving items. But there is much more like furikake potato chips, coffee-flavored chocolate, and lavosh crackers. On the Japan-side, the home of omiyage, there is no shortage of things to bring home. Depending what prefecture you go to, they have different specialties. There’s karukan from Kagoshima, a steamed spongy rice cake that you can it as-is, or other varieties with cream inside. Kyoto has triangle shaped mochi with different flavorings both in the mochi itself and in its filling. My mom loves surume from Nagasaki, dried squid, which she lightly grills and tears into strips to eat. If you forgot to get omiyage before you leave, don’t worry, the airport is full of omiyage from all over the country. In fact, before you even go on your trip, you can order omiyage from the place you are going from a catalog. Tour companies actually do this so you don’t have to lug omiyage around with you. But where’s the meaning and love in omiyage if you don’t suffer hauling it around like a pack-mule and breaking all the airline carry-on rules.