Valentine’s Day in Japan
Happy Valentine’s Day losers! Did you know that in Japan, Valentine’s Day is a day where women give chocolate to men? This nation is truly a man’s nation; on Valentine’s Day Japanese men sit on their asses and have chocolate given to them by their wives/girlfriends. And if they aren’t complete assholes at work, they’ll be receiving a bunch of giri choco from their female coworkers. Giri Choco roughly translates as “social obligation chocolates”, meaning that women must give chocolate to their boss(who is, of course, a man) and male coworkers in accordance with Japan’s sexist/feudal society. Great, isn’t it?
A month from now(March 14), the Japanese will celebrate White Day. What the hell is White Day? Well, here is what wikipedia told me:
There are many theories about the origins of White Day, but according to one, the holiday began in 1965, when a marshmallow maker started marketing to men that they should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts with marshmallows. Originally it was called Marshmallow Day, and later it was changed to White Day.
Soon, the chocolate companies started realizing that they could capitalize as well on this day, and began marketing white chocolate. Now, Japanese men give marshmallows, white and non-white chocolate, as well as other edible and non-edible gifts, such as jewellery or objects of sentimental value, to the women who were kind enough to think of them and give them chocolate on Valentine’s Day a month prior.
Stupid, ne?
The giri choco thing isn’t so strict for men, so they don’t have to worry about giving too many white chocolates/candies on White Day. Most women only give chocolates to their superiors at work, but since no Japanese man is going to have a female superior, there is no need to worry about that!
Anyway, don’t take my word for it. Trust this “journalist”:
Office ladies bitter about keeping bosses sweet
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Tuesday February 14, 2006
GuardianWhen Japanese “office ladies” give their male colleagues Valentine’s chocolates today, most will do so not out of love or even affection, but through gritted teeth.
In a survey by iBridge, an internet content provider based in Osaka, 70% of female office workers in their 20s and 30s would be happy to see an end to the singularly Japanese custom of giving “giri choco” – literally, obligation chocolates – to their male superiors on Valentine’s Day.
Men are supposed to reciprocate a month later on White Day, an event dreamed up by chocolate makers in the early 80s to boost sales.
Both days have become an exercise in not causing offence. The survey found that 46% of women start thinking about what to buy, and for whom, several days in advance, while almost a quarter start planning more than a week before the big day.
Giving chocolate as Valentine’s Day gifts took off commercially in Japan in the mid-1950s and has since grown into a market worth ¥50bn (£240m) a year, providing some manufacturers with up to 30% of their annual sales in just a few days.
But not all treats will find their way on to bosses’ desks. Instead, industry watchers say, many women who buy them have a special someone in mind: themselves.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
Since I am a nice guy, I am giving chocolates to my jgirl today. Are you?
