But you're right. Gifts aside, we can at least reduce the packaging. Recently I had a chance to spend some time in Japan and the overuse of plastic bags and packaging was startling. (I expected a modern island nation to be more environmentally efficient.)

Sources suggest this is "customer first" culture-driven:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13266062/ns/world_news-world_envir... (2013)

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-plastic-bags-in-Japan-so-overu...