☆FOR JAPANESE LEARNERS☆コミュのresponding to a gift being sent

A friend in Japan sent me an email saying they are
sending me a Christmas gift. I suspect they are
sending it because they received a small gift from me.

In English, we would normally respond by saying "you
shouldn't have" or "you didn't have to". Is this an
appropriate response in Japanese? If so, how would I
say it?

Also, by sending a Christmas gift to them, did I create
an obligation that they send me something? How should
a Gaijin handle this? At Christmas time, I do send
gifts, but I do not expect them to send one back (and I
especially do not want to cause them to feel they have
to send something back just because I sent them a gift).

ありがとうございます！

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[1] mixiユーザー 12月30日 13:16

Umm... It's not easy to answer this question, but
as you know, the philosophy called 'Give and Take'
plays a very important role in this small island.

Especially, sending a gift in this(year-end) season
has a special meaning, what we say, 'year-end gift
(OSEIBO)'.

Generally, if you get a year-end gift from someone,
you'll have to give something back to the sender,
otherwise you'll possibly be thought that you're rude.
That's kinda common sense in this country.

In fact, we feel guilty unless we send something back.

For further information about this kind of japanese
customs, I recommend you to ask the members of
☆ENGLISH ONLY☆, so you can get a variety of
responses and broaden your knowledge...

Jimmie

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