I’ve recently moved to Tokyo and while I was walking around a neighbourhood my dog, he turned and knocked a pot plant off a small ledge in front of a house. Smashing the pot, and spilling soil. What is an appropriate apology gift to the elderly couple who are livng there? A written apology letter and some money?? I’m not sure what’s a good protocol or custom here? It’s my-dog/my fault but this is one of the houses in tokyo going straight onto the road (no pathway, barely a tiny gutter).
The potplant was around 50cm tall and looks like it was healthy-ish 🙁 the elderly woman seemed upset but we couldn’t communicate welll to each other and I think I understood “no pay”, “dog knocked plant off ledge?” and “go away”. I feel very ashamed.
9 comments
Here’s the thing. So many elderly folks have their potted plants, flowers, and other things creeping onto the sidewalks in residential areas. Of course any pet dog will sniff around that stuff. I’ve gotten the stink eye so many times just because my dog does what a dog normally does. All I’m doing is walking along the sidewalk with my dog. If she was rude, I wouldn’t even bother replacing it. But that’s just me.
Write a letter in Japanese apologizing with some money and a gift like cookies or something. Make sure to do a deep bow too. Never walk past that house again and keep a tight hold of your dog on future walks in the neighborhood. It will help smooth things over in the community and make things easier for you.
How about a gift certificate to a local flower shop?
A handwritten letter and some money will get you in the “at least they’re polite” forbidden status, especially since you couldn’t understand each other verbally, that person will notice you did some effort. Some cookies or else from your own country in addition to that might make you enter in the “friendly neighbor” zone
If you give them money, make sure to put it in a money envelope.
Get a replacement pot and maybe plant? Plus a sorry note.
Thankyou all for the advice…including the pathway needed to restore honor to my ancestors and the great kingdom. I’ll go with a short apology note and a money envelope approach. However I guess this is only for my peace of mind as I will still be walking my dog in future.
I second a handwritten apology and giftcard to a flower shop… though depending on how elderly they are they might not understand how they work. Perhaps you can find and buy similar flower and pot arrangement and leave it on her doorstep with an apology letter in Japanese.
Use google translate and make and copy down a quick apology in Japanese as best as you can.
Whatever you decide to do, we need updates