Rice One

Having a hard time getting around to all the relatives to show off the new baby? Here's an idea that might help - "Dakigokochi" rice-filled bags which are shaped like a bundled-up baby and printed with the new-born's face and name. Amazing idea right? Oddly Enough (Reuters) reports that it's not original. It's an improvement on what was already on offer from "other rice shops (which) sell bags printed with baby photos, but they use regular bags". The new ones are tailor-made to weigh the same as the child and shaped so the rice fills the bag - making it all cuddly. The Dakigokochi are sent as "half-return" gifts. In Japan, it's customary to send gifts or money on significant occasions, such as birth, and the recipient responds with other gifts, worth about half the amount they received - hence the name "half-return". Narou Ono, owner of Yoshimiya which makes the innovative bags, suggests that recipients face a dilemma once they have finished cuddling the rice proxy. People say they have a hard time opening the Dakigokochi to eat the rice - which is understandable.