SOU・SOU: Cute and Colorful Gift Ideas from Japan!

Innovative fashion and lifestyle goods brand SOU・SOU has combined Japanese aesthetics with modern touches to form a distinctive identity, loved by many. They not only produce fun and unique fashion, but also have a wide range of gift items available!

No matter the product, the brand never loses touch with their Kyoto roots, and many of their gift items draw distinct influences from Kyoto and its incredible culture. Below we'd like to highlight 10 of our absolute favorite gift ideas for our readers!

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1. Colorful and Tasty Japanese Sweets

Pictures courtesy of SOU・SOU

As a gift item, confectionery is almost universal, and we can’t recommend these beautifully packaged treats enough!

SOU・SOU have partnered with Itoken, a renowned Kyoto confectionery company with over 100 years of history, and the sweets they have produced evoke feelings of nostalgia.

Coming in a wide range of types and flavors, they draw inspiration from Kyoto’s famed traditional sweets. Items include cute candies, exquisite traditional wagashi (Japanese sweets), and adorable number-shaped cookies and castella!

Pictures courtesy of SOU・SOU

The wide range of cookies come in flavors such as yuzu, cherry, pumpkin seed, kinako (roasted soy flour), and matcha-white chocolate sable. Buckwheat cookies are also available! The candies include traditional Japanese favorites such as ramune, yokan, karinto, and kompeito!

Pictures courtesy of SOU・SOU

One particular item that’s guaranteed to get a reaction is SOU・SOU’s unique SOU SU Bracken Starch Jelly (Warabi). Kyoto is well known for its beautifully presented wagashi sweets, and these include traditional jelly sweets that appear to have goldfish sealed inside, looking like miniature works of art.

These particular sweets seem to draw inspiration from this, and have SOU・SOU’s famous SOU SU number design sealed inside the jelly sweets! They’re available in hojicha (roasted green tea) and wasanbon (traditional Japanese sugar) flavors, and are a treat just to look at!

SOU・SOU × Itoken Confectionery

2. Adorable Teapots

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SOU・SOU has a wide range of gifts perfect for tea lovers, and they’ve partnered with renowned tea brand Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo to make these gorgeous glass teapots!

Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo hails from Ujitawara-cho in Kyoto, which is known as the birthplace of Japanese green tea. The area makes some of the world’s finest traditional Uji tea, including high-quality matcha. The teapots come in a range of bright and fun patterns and include a mini tea can containing one of Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo’s most popular blends.

SOU・SOU × Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo Glass Teapot and Tea Can Set

3. Lovely Teacups

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Teacups are a great gift idea, and SOU・SOU has no shortage of designs!

Currently, they offer high-quality traditional Japanese-style tea cups, made in collaboration with Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo. These adorable cups come in sets of two, and are available in three beautiful patterns. The sets also include one of Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo’s most popular tea blends.

SOU・SOU × Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo Teacup Set

Picture courtesy of SOU・SOU

SOU・SOU also has a separate range of teacups that come with saucers, and are available in sets of 5. They come in 5 fun designs, and are made in collaboration n with MR BOSS. Both sets of cups are microwave and dishwasher safe.

SOU・SOU Original Teacup 5 Pattern Set

4. Tea Cans

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Another item made in collaboration with Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo and absolutely perfect for tea lovers! These decorative tea cans come in three fabulous and colorful designs, and are sure to bring a smile to whoever they are given to.

They are available individually or in sets of two, and each can contains 10 tea bags. Each design also contains a particular blend of Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo’s tea; the teas include a gentle Uji matcha and sencha blend, a rich brown rice Uji matcha blend, and a fragrant hojicha (roasted green tea) blend.

SOU・SOU x Ujitawara Seicha-Jyo Tea Cans

5. Baby Gifts

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SOU・SOU has a wide range of baby gifts to celebrate new arrivals, as well as for young kids! These include adorable kid jinbei and baby ponchos, which come in outrageously adorable prints such as watermelon and rainbow-colored number designs!

The jinbei are great for toddlers, and sets include handkerchiefs and a soft toy! The ponchos are made to last for a long time, and can be worn by newborns right up to 3 years of age. The sets include little tabi socks and a soft toy!

Pictures courtesy of SOU・SOU

The clothing is made from super soft Isemomen cotton, which is great for delicate skin!

The range also includes adorable footwear! The “baby feet” are SOU・SOU’s super cute sock-shoes that are made to be lighter than shoes and easier to walk in, but non-slip. Like the other items they come in adorable prints, and are beautifully packaged!

SOU・SOU Birth Celebration Gifts

6. Poketle Water Bottles

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“Poketle” is a portmanteau of pocket, little and bottle, and these pocket-sized bottles are gaining popularity recently.

They have been made to be small, light and easy to carry for people on the go. SOU・SOU offers bottles in a range of colors, printed with their iconic SOU SU number design. They even have a version which is specially made for holding hot soup!

SOU・SOU Poketle

7. Tabi Socks

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SOU・SOU are famous for their innovative tabi shoes and socks, and their cute tabi socks definitely make great gifts! They come in a wide variety of designs, and they have a special range just for summer!

We particularly like the Hokusai inspired long socks, as well as the nostalgic kakigori sign print short socks! Kakigori (shaved ice) is a popular summer treat in Japan, and many shops selling the dessert display a distinctive white, blue and red sign outside, with the kanji for ‘ice’ on it. This print is sure to bring back nostalgic memories for those who’ve grown up in Japan!

SOU・SOU Summer Gift Ideas

8. Stylish Masks

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SOU・SOU’s reusable cotton masks have been a hugely popular item as of late, and have been featured on multiple blogs and news sites, as well as on TV.

They come in a wide range of fun and fashionable designs and are made using high-quality chijimi cotton, much like a lot of SOU・SOU’s clothing items. Chizimi cotton is light and highly absorbent, and is the perfect material for reusable masks. Designs include SOU SU numbers, traditional Japanese-inspired prints and stunning florals. The prints are bold and bright, and are sure to catch attention!

SOU・SOU Cotton Masks

9. Tenugui Handkerchiefs

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Japan’s famous traditional tenugui hand towels have a long history, and are incredibly popular as souvenirs. They are used for a variety of purposes, including for drying hands, wrapping up items, and can even be hung up at home like decorative scrolls!

These beautiful handkerchiefs from SOU・SOU are handprinted using Kyoto’s famous Yuzen silkscreen printing method. They are also made using exquisite Isemomen cotton from Mie prefecture—this particular cotton gets softer the more you wash it!

There are a wide variety of fun, colorful and unique summer designs available; including watermelons, peaches, kakigori signs, floral prints, and even a design depicting Kyoto’s famous Daimonji Festival, where five mountainsides are lit with spectacular bonfires every August.

SOU・SOU Summer Gift Ideas

10. Decorative Masking Tape

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Made using high-quality washi paper and featuring beautiful and adorable designs, this tape is definitely not just for sealing boxes. It can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including decorating items, gift wrapping and in art and craft projects!

SOU・SOU has partnered with the well-known Japanese masking tape brand mt, so you can be assured of the great quality of this tape, which comes in various fun designs and thicknesses.

We particularly love the gold embossed SOU SU number design, the exquisite Japanese flower prints and the adorable rainbow Japanese hiragana print!

SOU・SOU Masking Tape