es! They do celebrate Valentine's Day in Japan but of course, the Japanese do it slightly differently. There is no "Happy Valentine's Day" greeting, there are no cards, or roses or candies with sappy phrases on them. What there is is chocolate!! And in Japan it's the women who hand it out on this day.
Women buy chocolate for their co-workers, bosses, male friends, brothers, father, husband, boyfriends, and so on. Therein lies the twist for who would think that in the conservative Japanese society, it would be the women making the forward gesture.
In Japan, the candy of choice on this day is chocolate!! The Japanese seem to have rules for everything they do so it's not surprising that there are different categories of chocolate handed out on this day.
If the recipient is a co-worker, or someone the woman sees casually, she gives him what is known as giri choco (obligation chocolate). Giri choco iis considered to be relatively *cheap* to buy and is given by women to their superiors at work as well as to other male co-workers. It is not unusual for a woman to buy 20 to 30 boxes of this type of chocolate for distribution around the office as well as to men that she has regular contact with.
On the other hand, if the woman has special feelings for the man then he receives what is known as honmei choco (prospective winner chocolate). Honmei choco is a superior variety of chocolate and can either be bought or handmade. It is said that men who receive homemade chocolate are definitely a notch up on the love scale from everyone else. *blushing girl*
In recent years, many Japanese young women exchange chocolate gifts with their female friends. These chocolates are called tomo choco (friend chocolate).
The confectionary maker Morozoff Ltd. is widely credited with having introduced Valentine's Day to Japan with a 1936 advertisement for chocolates, but it wasn't until two decades later that Mary Chocolate Co. Ltd. used the day to promote chocolate sales. Today, the custom has grown into a sweet multibillion yen market for Japan's chocolate makers, some of whom rake in 20 to 30 percent of annual profits in a few short weeks! It's not surprising that as in the US, the approach of Valentine's Day is something that Japanese department stores and shops look forward to and promote with zeal because of its potential for increased sales.
While Valentine's Day in America is a one day affair, in Japan, it is not over yet. Exactly a month later, on March 14, it's the mens turn to return favor. Known as "White Day", it is the day when men present gifts to all the ladies who remembered them on Valentines Day. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, white chocolate, white lingerie and marshmallows. It is expected that the gift that the man gives is at least 2 to 3 times the value of what he received from the woman. Now that's a good deal for the woman!
White Day was introduced in 1965 by Ishimura Manseido, a confectionery in Fukuoka. Originally the day was called Marshmallow Day but was later changed to White Day (the color of marshmallow) when other confectioners caught on and white chocolate also became a popular gift.The color of the chocolate is generally white and the men are expected to reciprocate with more expensive chocolates.
Yes, Valentine's Day is commercialized affair and without any ties to Japan's cultural heritage, who knows how long the custom will survive. But until it does, at least the Japanese can, for a short time, give up mochi and enjoy gorging on chocolates. I'm sure the rich Japanese can afford buy some pretty darn good imported (read Belgian and Swiss) chocolate!
