Why is it that with each passing year, it seems to get more and more difficult to think of a cool gift idea for my wife’s birthday? Maybe it’s because in 2008, we spent her special day walking around Kyoto, Japan in traditional kimonos and stayed over at an authentic 19th-century ryokan. So, there I was, having a drink at the Kitano Hotel in New York City, plum out of bright ideas, when I learned that the property had a special tatami suite that offered guests what it was calling authentic Japanese culture and hospitality.