that's about the stupidest rule I think I've ever heard
I was told, when preparing for a trip to Japan, that Orientals are turned off by ostentatious displays of wealth. Therefore, it follows that if someone you respect expresses interest in something which is yours, that interest is prompted by genuine regard for the object, not by mere acquisitiveness or the vanity of possessing it. To surrender the object willingly is to acknowledge the purity of the admirer's interest while, saying to the admirer at the same time, that you value your relationship with that person more highly than the object of admiration. An admirer who did not comprehend the intrinsic virtue of the admired object, apart from its monetary value, would not find his host so generous.