Valentine's day in Japan

Day 3,008, 05:58 • Published in Japan Japan • by Nanashi Senshi


Greetings citizens of eJapan and e-world, today is the Valentine's Day, and I don't think there is no need to explain anything about this day, right boys and girls 😉 But like pretty much in anything Japan is unique has it own customs related to this day.



In Japan Valentine’s Day is celebrated in a very unique style. It is the women who present gifts to men. There are two types of chocolates, “Giri-choco” (obligation chocolate), and “Honmei-choco”.

Giri-choco
“Giri” means obligation hence this Giri-choco has no romance involved. Giri-choco is meant to be for friends, colleagues, bosses, and close male friends.



Honmei-choco
Honmei-choco is given to a boyfriend, lover, or husband with true love. Japanese women often prepare the Honmei-choco by themselves as many of them think it is not true love if they just buy the ready made chocolate at shops.

The chocolate companies in Japan sell more than half of their annual sales during the week before Valentine's Day.



Connection between the Valentine's day and the White Day

White Day takes place on March 14th, exactly one month after Valentine’s Day. On White Day men are supposed to give return gifts to women who gifted them chocolates on Valentine’s Day. More often the color of the chocolate is white because of the name of the day.