Asakiyume mita

I didn't grow up with the knife-as-a-gift belief, but when I ran into it in adulthood, it was paired with the idea that you could mitigate it by paying a penny or so to make it technically a purchase -- because of course the friendship-cutting only applies to a gift! If you're buying a knife off someone who happens to be your friend, well, that's different! And so a friend of mine gave us a set of three knives for Christmas this year, but insisted upon getting a penny in return. (She got a nickel, in fact, because that's what I had on hand.)