In the surveys of students, shopping was among the most frequently listed activities on the trip.
Access to museum souvenir shops was easy in the US. In Korea, there was far less material available, and what there was seemed to be in rather obscure parts of each site. The school trips in Japan far out-performed both the US and Korea in this regard. Omiyage お土産 — souvenirs from the site — must be brought back home as gifts for family members. And Japanese teens shop in groups, 6-10 teenagers coming away from the same store with identical bags containing very similar gifts.
In many places it is easy to buy “toy” military souvenirs,
ranging from Korean medieval swords made out of plastic, 
and minature army uniforms, to Okinawa’s rusty, old, disarmed army shells.
In the war-related parts of the Smithsonian in Washington DC, students are encouraged to become identified with military service themselves, having soldiers’ ID — dog– tags made in their own names.
Numbers:
Did you go shopping
| Japan: Junior HighYes= 80.2% | Japan: High SchoolYes=56.7% | |
| Korea: Junior HighYes= 19.6% | Korea: High SchoolYes=30.8% | |
| US: Junior HighYes=24.6% | US: High SchoolYes=35.4% |
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