Buying flowers for women in Japan

Hi,

I have been on a few dates with this girl and I wanted to buy her a bouquet of roses. I was wondering if there is a specific way guys in Japan give them. I dont have a car and I dont really want to get the flowers all messed up while transporting in the train system. I dont know the girls address too and Im not the type to ask for a girls address when Ive known her for such a short time.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

You should be able to get her address with her phone number.

Also, if you dont mind me saying, roses might be coming on a bit strong after only a couple of dates. I'd go with something thats maybe her favorite color, or a variation of soft colors.

Anyways, you might be able to find a flower shop near her house, or close to where ever you pick her up. I'd investigate the area a bit and maybe buy something close to the station.

Using someone's phone number to get their address and checking out their neighborhood just sounds creepy.

Some people might look at that as stalking...

I have mix-ed feelings about flowers. It's usually reserved for special occasions like graduations and birthdays so the recipient might feel overwhelmed or embarrassed by a bouquet of roses.

Depending on the person's age and likes, she might see it has old-fashioned, which can be good or bad...

Anyway, a bouquet of roses will cost 5000 - 10000 yen and for that much there are a lot of other gifts that might be more appropriate for the relationship.

On the other hand, since people rarely give flowers as part of the early dating process she might love it and feel helplessly into your arms...

GMe,

Guys in Tokyo (or probably in any city where public transportation is more common than your automobile) simply carry the bouquet around, on the streets, buses and trains, until he meets the girl and hands it to her, and then she'd carry it around in the same way. Same goes for people who just received flowers at their farewell party.

That's actually the dramatic part of it. Imagine a guy carrying a bouquet around town and looking good. My husband was so embarrassed on my first birthday (even though it was his idea) that he carried it in a paper bag which looked pretty ugly to me, but I'd decided I can tolerate this. The next birthday he had the guts to meet me with roses in the middle of Ginza and take me to Sabatini.

Whether a bouquet after only "a few dates" is acceptable or not is debatable, but you can forget about searching addresses out of phone numbers. It's way too creapy in this era of Personal Information Protection Law.

There are many different kinds of girls in Japan and I haven't one any who didn't like getting flowers.

However, I strongly agree with the above posters that trying to get her address by any means other than asking her straight is not only creepy, but I think it's illegal (need confirm). Also, if you don't ask and suddenly show up like the Scarlet Pimpernel out of the shadows near her house, regardless of bearing flowers it could have the opposite effect and get her thinking "stalker, gaijin stalker!" and no more dates.

Just arrange to meet for dinner somewhere you know won't destroy your bouquet during the train ride, or (if you're willing to pay for a whole bouquet of roses) just take a taxi. Say, tsumaranaimono desu ga... and hand em over. You'll know if it was a good move or not.
Roses are pretty expensive, so if you want to give other kinds of flowers, just avoid chrysanthemums since they are used at funerals/mourning.

I just take it with me on the train, no needs for embarrassment. Just hold it and make sure it doesn't get squished. Many medium to large train stations also have flowershops in them as well.

Hi
Why do you not give only a rose, not bouquet?
One rose looks beautiful than bunch of roses.

I agree with the above poster

If you give her one rose it will show you care, but it will not embarrass or overwhelm her.
If she likes it then ask for her address, or send them to her work ( my wife loves that she can show off to the other girls ) ask first where she works if she dose. You don't want her to think you are a stalker by having something just show up if she has not told where she works.
Save the bouquet for when you know her better, and know more of what she likes.

wish you luck

You should be able to get her address with her phone number.

If I read this as "you can ASK for her address when you ASK for her phone number" then my comment is that I though it wasn't common for Japanese women to give out their addresses early in a relationship. It may come off as too forward to ask for it if you are only beginning to date.

But if read as "you can look up her address if you know her phone number", then I agree that this is a stalker move and should be avoided.

send them to her work ( my wife loves that she can show off to the other girls)

I would be careful sending flowers to her workplace. Depending on where she works, sending flowers or showing up unexpectedly for lunch may sound romantic, but in many cases you may be causing her much embarrassment and doing more harm than good. In particular, she may not appreciate being forced to be showy in front of her coworkers.

One last thing, as jmarkley mentioned, be careful about the cultural significance of certain flowers. I picked up a bouquet for my wife once when we were dating and she (and her entire family) almost died laughing. It turns out that I had accidentally picked out a bouquet that was meant to be placed on a grave! Now I ask the florist first to make sure the flowers are suitable for a living person.

Get a address from phone number and send a flower sound a bit creepy (for girl side opinion). Japanese girl probably love love love to have flower from guys (or you) but if you give her at the date without car, she has to hold it for the rest of date? That's kind of inconvenience... So until you get her address, I would wait to give her the flower.
Or chance to visit her place.

Thank you!