ABSTRACT

Introduction The careful wrapping of goods, particularly those to be served to guests or presented as gifts, is not peculiar to Japan, but it is an accomplishment which is certainly highly developed in that culture. It is my view that this is no chance phenomenon, but that attention paid to the wrapping of goods is merely one example of an important and pervasive-but possibly not explicit-ordering principle available to participants in Japanese society. It is, as such, an important component of non-verbal communication, but it can be shown to be manifest at various levels of social awareness. The aim of this paper is to describe examples of this ‘wrapping principle’, to examine some possibilities for its wider significance and implications, and, finally, to make some tentative suggestions about how the Japanese case may provide a model for cross-cultural comparison.