Japanese Valentine's Day

 How was your Valentine's Day last week?

Did you know?
Valentine's Day in Japan is a little different from other countries. It is a limited event where "girls" confess their love by giving "chocolates" to the person they love.

Since Japan is originally a Buddhist country, it is only in recent decades that the anecdote of St. Valentine was introduced.

Later, candy companies started a campaign to "give chocolate on Valentine's Day," and it is said that this campaign spread and took its present form.

But how did it become an event that only "girls" give?

There was once a time in Japan when it was considered inappropriate for girls to show affection to boys. This was because of the strong male chauvinism.

However, at a turning point in an outdated ideology, Valentine's Day became the perfect event for girls to confess their love to boys. Perhaps it was a time when girls could hardly do so without an excuse. So it became a day for girls to confess their love to boys.

The above is just my theory.

Anyway, it is now like a festival for girls. Of course, girls nowadays can confess their feelings on other days, but they enjoy this day.

Before Valentine's Day, department stores are stocked with famous chocolates from all over the world, and there are even autograph sessions by famous chocolatiers🤣

Girls buy expensive chocolates for their true love and take the time and effort to make chocolate confections.
Then, on Valentine's Day, girls call the boy they like after school and give him chocolates.
On February 15, some girls get boyfriends, others don't receive chocolate and get their hearts broken. So many wonderful memories are created.

For your information, there are two types of chocolate for Valentine's Day. There are "Honmei-chocolates" and "Giri-chocolates."

"Honmei"(meaning "true love") are the ones that girls give to confess their love or to their sweethearts, as explained earlier.
"Giri"(meaning "courtesy") are the ones that girls to give to their friends, classmates, and those who have helped them on a daily basis. In this case, the price of the chocolates prepared by the girl should be inexpensive, and if she is a student, she can hand out snacks and candies such as those dealt with in this blog. This is why chocolate confections sold during the Valentine's Day season have heart marks and other symbols on them.

Valentine's Day feels like an event mainly for teenage girls, but it is also given by women to men within a company, and in that case it becomes Giri-chocolates.

What is the purpose of Giri-chocolate?
To show gratitude... Not only that.

It is considered polite for a boy who receives chocolates to give something in return one month later on March 14 (called White Day). It is even said that the amount of money given in return should be three times the amount received.
Of course, not all girls who give Giri-chocolates have such a purpose, but she will be lucky if she gets one in return. At least I was😁
That is why some companies have banned the custom of Valentine's Day chocolates because it is too hard to return them.

Japan is a strange country, isn't it?

By the way, AYA, how was Valentine's Day in your childhood? You may wonder.
I bought lots of chocolates and ate most of them by myself😂 Then I scattered Giri-chocolates... And among those many Giri chocolates, I secretly mixed one Honmei-chocolate😘