10th Wedding Anniversary in Japan: 7 Keepsake Ideas Couples Are Choosing Over Gifts

Ten years in, most couples in Japan already know how this goes. The jewelry ads show up in your feed. Your mother-in-law asks what you’re planning. And somewhere between choosing a restaurant and picking a gift, you realize none of it really captures what ten years together actually feels like.

In Japan, the 10th anniversary is known as suzu-kon-shiki (錫婚式), the “tin anniversary,” named for a metal that’s flexible yet strong — much like a marriage that’s bent and adjusted without breaking. It’s traditionally treated as one of the bigger milestone years, on par with the 1st and 25th, and couples tend to put more thought into it than the in-between years.

Most guides on this milestone point you toward jewelry, spa days, or a nice dinner out. Those are lovely for the evening. But a growing number of couples are adding something that lasts well past the night itself: a photobook that actually tells the story of the ten years, not just marks the date.

Here are seven ways couples are approaching it — with honest tips before you start, and exactly what to use for each.

1. The “Then vs. Now” Album

Pair your wedding day photos side by side with a recent photo in the same pose, same location, or same outfit if you still have it. It doesn’t need commentary — the contrast tells the story on its own. Couples often save this style for the final pages of a larger book, as a kind of closing chapter.

This works best in a layflat format, where two full pages sit open without a center crease, so the “then” and “now” photos face each other cleanly across the spread.

2. The Traditional Ceremony Retelling

If your wedding included a traditional Japanese ceremony — shrine visit, kimono, sake-sharing — a decade is enough distance to appreciate details you were too nervous to notice on the day itself. Couples are revisiting old ceremony photos, sometimes reprinting them for the first time, and building a book that walks through the ceremony from start to finish for parents or grandparents who were there.

This tends to work well as a gift for parents specifically, since it reframes the day through a shared cultural lens rather than just “our wedding.” A hardcover option holds up better than softcover for something meant to sit on a shelf for years.

3. The Honeymoon Revisit

A surprising number of couples don’t look back at honeymoon photos until a milestone forces the question. Building a dedicated honeymoon chapter — even from photos taken on an old phone — tends to resurface memories neither partner remembers clearly anymore. If travel has been a recurring part of the marriage, some couples extend this into a “10 places in 10 years” format instead of a single trip.

For the shots you want on a wall rather than in a book, canvas holds color better than a framed print for landscape and beach photography.

4. The Proposal Flashback

For couples who have the original proposal photos, or reconstructed the moment afterward, revisiting it a decade later adds weight that wasn’t there originally — you now know how the story turned out. This section works best kept short: two or three pages, placed early in the book, functioning as an opening rather than the main content.

5. Kids, Pets, and the “Cast That Grew”

If the marriage has grown to include children or pets, many couples use the anniversary book to acknowledge that the family looks nothing like it did on the wedding day. This isn’t a baby book — it’s framed as “who joined us,” told briefly, then returned to the central couple’s story.

6. The Letter Page

A single page, sometimes handwritten and scanned in, sometimes typed, where each partner writes a short note to the other — what the last ten years meant, what they hope for the next ten. Couples consistently mention this is the page parents and children ask to reread. It costs nothing extra to include, and tends to be the part people remember.

7. The Parents’ Copy

A second, smaller printed copy made specifically as a gift for parents. This is less about design and more about acknowledging that your parents experienced the wedding differently than you did, and giving them something physical to keep. Softcover keeps the cost of printing two or three copies sensible.

A Few Things to Think About Before You Start

Budget expectations. Anniversary gift research in Japan shows couples typically spend somewhere in the ¥50,000–¥100,000 range on a 10th anniversary gift when jewelry or experiences are involved. Every photobook option above costs a fraction of that, which is part of why couples increasingly use one as a companion to a smaller gift rather than a replacement for it.

It doesn’t have to be perfect photography. The most-mentioned regret among couples building anniversary books isn’t bad photos — it’s waiting for “better” ones that never show up. Phone photos from a decade ago are usually good enough once printed at the right size.

Give yourself more lead time than feels necessary. Sourcing old photos, scanning printed ones, and getting family members to send their copies takes longer than the actual book design. Most couples who are happy with the result started at least a month out.

Displaying instead of shelving. If part of the anniversary is redecorating a shared space, a framed print alongside the book rounds it out well.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the traditional gift for a 10 year wedding anniversary?
The traditional Western gift is tin or aluminum, while the modern equivalent is diamond jewelry. In Japan, the 10th anniversary is called suzu-kon-shiki (錫婚式), or “tin anniversary,” and couples typically mark it with jewelry, a special trip, or an experience gift — increasingly alongside a photobook that captures the ten years rather than just the date.

What is the anniversary gift in Japan?
Japan follows a similar milestone system to the West, with each year tied to a material: for example, paper for the 1st year, wood for the 5th, tin for the 10th, silver for the 25th, and gold for the 50th. Gifts are generally chosen to reflect that material’s symbolism — tin, for the 10th year, represents flexibility and strength, much like a decade-long marriage.

What is the traditional wedding gift in Japan?
Traditional Japanese wedding gifts often center on goshugi (monetary gifts) presented in a decorated envelope called shugi-bukuro, alongside practical household items. For anniversaries specifically, couples and families increasingly favor keepsakes — photobooks, framed prints, and personalized albums — that can be kept and revisited, rather than items that get used up.

What gift is famous in Japan?
Japan is well known for gifts tied to craftsmanship and sentiment — items like washi paper goods, lacquerware, and personalized keepsakes such as photobooks and photo prints, which combine a handmade feel with something the recipient will actually keep and look at again.

Start Your 10th Anniversary Book Today

You don’t need all seven ideas — pick the one or two that fit your story, and build from there. Choosing the format first (leather  for “then vs now,” hardcover for a formal retelling, softcover for parent copies) makes the rest come together faster than you’d expect.

→ Or browse the full Photo Gifts range to compare every format side by side before you commit.