The Japanese are brilliant at taking something that is a nice occasion and making it their own. Just like how they have taken Christmas, thrown away the manger scene and turned it into all about buying gifts, they have done the same and commercialised Valentine’s Day into something that is all about chocolate.
Yesterday, I received some “giri choco“, literally translated means “obligation chocolate”, from the female members of our division. On Valentine’s Day, Japanese women give chocolate to men who they know, such as co-workers, and have no romantic interests in. Of course, they may buy that special box for that special someone, but giri choco appears to be the main theme. So I imagine that chocolate businesses are probably quite well off around this time of the year. But that’s not the end of the story. Rumour has it that the chocolate companies in Japan thought it was such a good idea, they decided to make this occasion twice a year. So exactly one month later on March 14th, which the Japanese have called “White Day”, men should return the favour by giving chocolates of three times the value of the chocolates they received on Valentine’s Day.
Although it was nice to receive them, I should have pointed out that it was Friday the 13th.
