Never before have I considered the complexity and calculation of gift-giving. When holidays and birthdays came around, I made my typical trip to the local mall and bought whatever I thought another could use as a present to them. If I were going to a wedding, I'd get a blender; Valentine's Day chocolates, my father's birthday, a new tie. But after reading Gift-Giving in Japan by Katherine Rupp, I see how amazingly calculating a present can be and the sheer repercussions of such a gift. In Japan, they can strengthen or cut off relationships, establish or demolish hierarchies in a family, and promote or weaken a husband's position at a company. With such vital consequences on the line, I find it ironic that in a system that looks at women as subordinate to men, such an important job would be laid upon women's feet. I have decided to write this paper on the critical roles women play in their husbands' careers, their families' positions in the community, and the families' places in their clans.
             With mens' relationships being of paramount value, especially in the workplace, women's role in molding a smooth connection between worker and boss is extremely important. Through the exchange of gifts from wives of workers to their husbands' boss, the wife must convey appreciation for good treatment while at the same time respecting the authority to whom she is giving a gift. As Rupp puts it: "It is women who must explicitly acknowledge the higher status of the other person and ask for that person's continued favor and assistance (161)." Women must give gifts on behave of their husbands and act of their children.
             Through this exchange of gifts in the workplace, women not only give gifts to superior men but to other women. Knowing that men bring home these gifts to their wives, an exciting dynamic is established. No longer must women only think of their husband's boss and the boss's wife. This relationship becomes so ingrained ...