Unique & Small Souvenirs From Japan

There’s plenty of small, but special! souvenirs you can grab all over Japan, and they’re so affordable you can get a bunch of them!

These are not the boring, basic crap you’ll see in crowded gift shops next to major tourist locations. This stuff is worth picking up and taking home with you. At the same time, they’re not super expensive or bulky: perfect for when you’ve run out of space in your suitcase.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and buy something, I get a small percentage at no extra cost to you. Your support helps keep this blog running— thank you! Read full disclosure here.

What's In This Post

Name Stamps

Name stamps (hanko) are what Japanese people use to sign their names on contracts and formal documents. There’s a couple places you can find these. Stationery stores will have standard ones, usually very small ones with typical Japanese names on them.

If you want something a little more customized, head to a Don Quijote store, where you can get a stamp with your name on it “translated” into Japanese in about 10 minutes. Or if you really want something special, visit Shinimonogurui Stamp Shop in Tokyo, where you can get something totally handmade.

Shaped Postcards

Postcards for Shimane which show things and places special to the area

These are souvenir postcards sold in the post office, specifically for people to have a memento of a specific area of Japan. They’re SO COOL, and they don’t cost much (under ¥1,000).

If you plan to send them home through the mail, you’ll have to send it in an envelope because the unusual shape means it can’t be sorted through the mail machine, just fyi.

Shrine Objects

The major souvenir to get at a shrine are omamori, small blessings inside an envelope that focus on a particular aspect of your life, like health, wealth, family, etc. Some shrines have special themed omamori, like Hello Kitty!

If you don’t want omamori, shrines usually also sell other souvenirs. I got this cute ceramic fox from a shrine in Kyoto, which had a fortune inside.

Hand Towel

Designs by Atsuko Matano, a famous Japanese artist

Public restrooms are hit-or-miss with paper towels for guests, and so most people just carry their own towel around. You’ll notice small hand towels for sale everywhere, even in gift shops and discount stores.

Hand towels make great souvenirs because not only can you get something nice (or with a favorite anime character) for under ¥1,000, you can keep using it when you get home!

Coin Purse

Another useful thing that you’ll want to get when you travel in Japan, as you’re going to start getting LOTS of coins (especially if you want to use the gacha machines). Some places to get nicer coin purses are:

Department stores in malls
Flea markets and artist markets
Consignment stores (fancier thrift stores)

And of course you can keep using it when you get home, too. Even if you don’t carry cash around, coin purses work great for storing earbuds or a small med kit in your bag.

Manhole Cover Coasters

Japan is famous for its unusual manhole covers, which tend to have intriguing designs. Usually each city has its own design for their manholes, and you can also find special themed ones like Pokemon and neighborhood mascots and so on.

Of course that means industrious businesses have created manhole cover souvenirs! The nicest ones are these enamel coasters, which look like this:

If these are too big or too heavy for your overstuffed suitcase, then you can always just grab a few of the small coin versions instead. Or even one of the stickers!

Gacha Prizes

These are the capsule toy machines you’ve no doubt seen all over TikTok and Youtube. Basically you put a coin (or 5) into the machine, turn the knob and get a random prize from a specific theme.

These are super addicting to get because you never know what’s going to come out of the gacha machine! I love the ones for Japanese brands in particular.

Gacha machines are found all over Japan: train stations, convenience stores, shopping malls, even entire gachapon stores with wall-to-wall machines! There’s sometimes specific ones for tourist destinations like Mt. Fuji as well.

Each gacha costs ¥100 minimum, and usually more like ¥300, so be sure to carry enough coins with you in case you find a good one. If you run out of coins, the gacha stores usually have a change machine.

Chopstick Rests

A slightly more elegant souvenir than a plastic keychain, chopstick rests come in a variety of materials and price points. You can get plastic ones at discount stores like Daiso, rummage through a box of vintage wooden ones at a flea market or get sucked into a tourist trap store on a walking street and get a bunch of little ceramic ones! That’s what I did! 😜

If you’re slightly fancier, you can get branded chopstick holders from companies like Le Creuset:

Le Creuset chopsticks rests, set of five for ¥3,300

Chopsticks themselves are nice, but they’re tough to display. Chopsticks holders are a big easier to put on a shelf and show off. And they’re small enough that you can stock up on them and take a bunch home with you.

Souvenir Coins

One of my favorite things to collect: pressed coins! These can be found at Tokyo Disney Resort parks, Pokemon Centers, and some tourist locations. How it works is: you put in the payment, then it rolls a blank “coin” through a press machine and imprints it with a design.

Japan’s really great about putting dates and locations on their coins, which makes them even more special because they’re specific to the time you got them.

I’ve also seen machines of just regular souvenir coins (not pressed), like this one at Kobe’s Nunobiki Herb Gardens. They cost a bit more than the pressed coins, but they’re also a bit nicer if you plan on giving them as gifts. Usually I see them at official gift shops, so be sure to ask if they have one.

Final Thoughts

Japan has a lot of little things you can buy as souvenirs, and I highly recommend looking around and finding something you love. Whether it’s a weird gacha keychain, a hand towel with Doraemon on it, or a shrine good luck charm, you’re sure to find something amazing!