I don't do it very often, but occasionally, when I buy something in Japan, I ask for it to be gift wrapped as a present. Obviously not at usual check-out counter at the grocery store, but at many shops have this option and don't show any surprise at the request.
At an import shop yesterday I bought two small presents for my language exchange partners. I said they were presents and asked if they could be wrapped separately. The lady didn't bat an eyelid. She gave me a choice of wrapping and bag and then unhurriedly wrapped them beautifully. It took her a few minutes.
She put the presents in a bag and asked if I wanted two extra bags to put the presents for my friends in. It is very common here to give something to someone in a bag or container of some sort (see a short post about this I wrote here). Just on Sunday a friend returned a book to me, she'd put it in a (reused) paper bag similar to the one in the photo.
Gift-giving is a precise art in Japan and there are many rules (see this short article for a glimpse). I'm not expert at all, in fact I'm very bad at it. The occasion in this case was that I'm going away for six months and I meet with these ladies regularly to have English and Japanese conversation practise. I was glad to give them a small token of my appreciation for their friendship and help.
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