gift ideas for boyfriend going to Japan

My boyfriend of three years is half japanese and always dreamt of going to live in Japan for a while. He has just had an interview for a job and been told he has to go out there for a year from January.
Obviously it is Christmas soon and I dont know what to get him. There is no point me buying him things that he cant take with him and he has to travel light and so I am asking for any ideas of things that would be useful/essential for him while he is out there, in terms of travelling, working, and living with limited space. He is 24! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated :o) thank you

You do an awful lot of walking in Japan, especially if your boyfriend is going to be living in any of the large cities. I recommend you get him a nice pair of shoes that he can walk in. I don't mean gym shoes but leather shoes he can wear in either business or casual settings. Japanese tend to dress a lot nicer than Americans when they go out and he will probably want to fit in. If you want something more romantic, a nice watch with dual time zone capability might be a nice gift too. I'm in my forties now but I too and half Japanese and went to work in Japan after I graduated from college for a couple of years. Good luck.

A gift could be a small box with CDs of the music you both like, photos of the 2 of you and detailed info that you found on the internet on the town he will live in. Add a note telling him that you will go and see him for 2 weeks or so in September. By then he will be accustomed to living in Japan and will really miss you.

It's going to be really cold in January...hows about a nice down jacket? He'll definitely get use out of that.