This year’s Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Today, I would like to talk a little bit about Valentine’s Day in Japan, which has a different tradition compared to other countries.
In the western world, this is the day traditionally men would do something special for women, boyfriend to girlfriend, husband to wife, am I right?
Here in Japan, it is quite the opposite. Mostly women to men. And it is not limited to couples who are already together, but also to those women and girls who want to tell and confess their love and feelings to the men they have fallen in love with.
They may bake a homemade heartfelt chocolate cake or buy a fancy box of luxury chocolate. If a man receives it, he would need to give the woman an “answer” with some sweets on White Day, which is on the 14th of March. We call these sweets “Okaeshi,” meaning, a return gift.
Another fact about Valentine’s Day in Japan includes people gift a small box of chocolate to their male colleagues and bosses at work, which is the so-called “Giri Choco (義理チョコ, meaning, an obligation chocolate).”
Similarly, they give sweets to their close friends as well. It is called “Tomo Choko (友チョコ, meaning, a friend chocolate).” This is often homemade, too, wrapped in small and pretty bags and handed to friends to share the fun.
All the department stores now have a bunch of stalls of different chocolate brand shops. Those stores are crazily crowded with (mostly) women who are queueing up to purchase chocolate to gift to whoever they have on their minds.
How do you spend this day? Do you have any interesting traditions in your country?
Featured image by Evie Shaffer from Pexels
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