I'm currently living in an area which is more of a vacation/resort area in which many people spend their summers at second homes. It's a quaint little area full of nice people, nature, and herds of deer that enjoy roaming the area in front of our cabin and occasionally forage for leaves on the deck. However, one thing I've noticed is how tacky all of the souvenirs are. I will grant that there were plenty of super tacky souvenirs in Japan though mostly those were in places heavily targeted toward foreigners (not where locals went), but there were also some tasteful ones and, what is more, there were always loads of food souvenirs. You could always count on some little food item which was at least minimally related to the place you were visiting being on offer which was nicely boxed and elegantly presented. This is because the culture of giving food souvenirs to coworkers helps develop a healthy market for such things. In the U.S., we don't have the same traditions and the souvenir market, by and large, tends to be a bit loud and overblown in its offerings.
I loved going out on sojourns with my husband and looking through the food souvenirs for something to take back and enjoy as a reminder of the place I'd been to and I miss that.
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