Gifts wrapped in the traditional Japanese wrapping called Furoshiki.

Gift wrapping refers to the act of enclosing a gift in some sort of material. Wrapping paper is a kind of paper designed for gift wrapping. Gifts may also be wrapped in a box. They may be held closed with ribbon and topped with a decorative bow (an ornamental knot made of ribbon).

In Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the giftee's name, and the giver's name. In the United States, an additional 5 million tons of waste are generated during the winter holidays; four million tons of this is wrapping paper and shopping bags.^[1] Some people attempt to avoid this by unwrapping gifts with care to hopefully allow the paper to be reused, while others use decorate cloth gift sacks that not only can be easily reused many times, but is easy to prepare gifts with presentably in the first place.

In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.

In Japanese culture, wrapping paper and boxes are common. However, the traditional cloth wrapping called furoshiki is increasing in popularity, particularly as an ecologically friendly alternative to wrapping paper.^[2]

Wrapping paper output in 2006

In Korean culture, bojagi are sometimes used for gift wrapping. A yedanbo is a ceremonial gift bojagi used to wrap wedding gifts from the bride's family to the members of the groom's^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ Waste Facts and Figures, Clean Air Council
2. ^ Minister Koike created the "Mottainai Furoshiki" as a symbol of Japanese culture to reduce wastes, Ministry of the Environment
3. ^ About Korea - Bojagi, korea.net

[edit] External links

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