February 14th, Valentine's Day
Yes Valentinefs Day is alive and kicking in Japan, but therefs a twist.
In the weeks leading up to the 14th February the shop floors are decorated with pink heart-shaped, inflated balloons and chocolate galore. Yum!
The cheques of people wanting to give that special significant other a sweet gift are readily seen but hang on a minute, they are all women!
Yes, the twist mentioned earlier is that on Valentinefs Day chocolates are bought by women for men. It is not a mutual exchange. And it is not just their sweet heart that the women are buying for they are also required to make purchases of egiri-chocof. Giri choco is the term used to refer to the chocolate they should (or are expected to) buy to keep males around them happy. An example of buying giri-chocolate is buying for your male co-workers, boss, your father and/or your father-in-law.
But donft worry the women have their chance to feast on chocolate a month later on White Day, March 14th.
Japanese people believe that for everything you receive you should give something back in return. So there you go an extra chance for shopkeepers to sell more chocolate!
I wonder if White Day will become an international affair like Valentinefs Day has?
