Food Japanese traditions Japanese Valentine's Day puzzling practice

Japanese Valentine's Day Customs

When you hear Valentine's Day, what would you have in mind? You might imagine flowers, chocolate, and Valentine's cards. Or, perhaps you might think of reservations for a candle-lit dinner at a romantic restaurant.















Although cards are exchanged among couples, as well as close friends and family members, these gifts or romantic dinners are basically provided from men to women in the US.  In Japan, it is quite the opposite. In addition, Valentine's Day 2009 has been adding some unique elements to the Japanese Valentine's Day tradition.

Traditionally in Japan, Valentine's Day is when ladies confess their love to men by giving chocolate to them. This custom includes a girlfriend giving chocolate, either ready-made or hand-made, to her boyfriend.

However, it is also extended to the custom in which female workers give chocolates to their male co-workers as a token of their appreciation for the support they get at the workplace. This type of chocolate is called giri choco, literally meaning "obligatory chocolate," because this practice is done from some sort of obligation. In return, the men who received chocolate are expected to give sweets, such as cookies, back to the ladies on White Day, which is March 14th. Sometimes, instead of sweets, gift-wrapped panties are returned to their female co-workers. Oddly enough, it is actually acceptable for men to give female co-workers panties in Japan.

This year, two terms are becoming great hits in Japan. One is gyaku choco and the other is my choco. Gyaku choco, which literally means "reverse chocolate," is the chocolate men buy to confess their love to ladies. As you can see, the senders are reversed (i.e., from men to women).















Interestingly, as the picture (above) shows, the letters on the chocolate package are reversed. Only when the letters are being reflected in the mirror will you be able to read the right letters in the right order.


My choco is the chocolate that women buy for themselves, not for their boyfriends or male-coworkers. Ladies buy expensive, designer-brand chocolate (shown in the picture below).















Each individual small piece costs over $3. TV news reports that despite this year's economic downturn, ladies each spend around $200 on their own chocolate. Since February 14th falls on Saturday this year, ladies may not have to spend their money on giri choco and can use that money on my choco instead. This may be beneficial for men as well as ladies. Namely, ladies themselves enjoy nice chocolate while men, who do not receive chocolate, would not feel left out as makegumi (Japanese: loser) thanks to this year's calender.

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