つまらないものですが…
Tsumaranai mono desu ga…
This is a poor thing, but…
This odd-sounding locution is the conventionally approved way to signal that you are offering a gift. Often heard in Japan, where both gift-giving and linguistic self-deprecation are highly ritualized, expressions such as this can sometimes elicit a puzzled response from a non-native speaker. After all, you might reason, if they think it’s a poor gift then why are they giving it to me? In fact, since in addition to “trifling” tsumaranai can also be translated as “boring” or “useless,” a little knowledge can really leave you confused. Needless to say, the phrase does not mean that the speaker actually believes the gift to be boring or worthless (she might think so, but she probably wouldn’t tell you). This is simply a verbal ritual of humility, presumably intended to steer the receiver of a gift away from any sense of obligation or intense gratitude.
Interestingly, even though no native speaker of Japanese could ever mistake the intent behind a phrase like this one, nowadays one often hears people dispensing with such ritualized utterances in favor of more transparent language. Younger people in particular, when giving someone a gift, might actually give it the old hard sell:
これ、とてもおいしいんですよ。
Kore, totemo oishii n’ desu yo.
It’s really delicious.
きっとお似合いだと思いまして…
Kitto oniai da to omoimashite…
I thought it would look good on you…
Another humble-sounding phrase for gift-givers is:
珍しくもございませんが…
Mezurashiku mo gozaimasen ga…
This is nothing special, but…
This is a handy expression when the offering is the sort of practical household item—soap, towels, fruit, coffee, beer, or the like—often given as a midsummer present (ochūgen) or year-end present (oseibo), in which case it is not only properly humble but accurate. This is not to say that such gifts aren’t highly appreciated anyway, incidentally. This and the other phrases below are often followed by the word dōzo (“Please [accept it]”), spoken as the gift is proffered.
When the gift is something you made by hand, you are expected to humbly deprecate your own handiwork.
お恥ずかしいのですけれど…
Ohazukashii no desu keredo…
I’ve done an embarrassingly poor job of it, but…
うまくできなかったんですけど…
Umaku dekinakatta n’ desu kedo…
This didn’t turn out very well, but…
Some expressions both downplay the value of a gift and emphasize the spirit in which it is given.
心ばかりの品ですが…
Kokoro bakari no shina desu ga…
This is just a small token of my appreciation…
A phrase like this communicates something more than mere formal courtesy, and is useful when the gift itself is meant to express more than just good manners.
– Source: A handbook of common Japanese phrases –