Valentine’s day and White day in Japan
In Japan, Valentine’s day is celebrated on the 14th of February and White day is celebrated on the 14th of March! Although many people observe Valentine’s day all over the world, Japanese people have their own unique twist.
In English speaking countries, chocolates, candies, roses, or cards are often exchanged on Valentine’s day. It can also be a romantic day for a date which includes a nice dinner and other kinds of gifts.
However, in Japan the tradition has mostly been in gifting chocolates. In addition, women are the ones who give chocolates to men and friends on February 14th. As a thank you to the chocolates, men give back white objects or sweets one month later on March 14th, or White day.
History of Valentine’s day in Japan
Valentine’s day is a more recent celebration that began around the 1950s and grew in popularity in the 1970’s. This was mostly due to a marketing strategy because sweets shops were not making profit during February.
Although it is not clear, the origin of Valentine’s day in Japan is said to come from Mary Chocolate Company. The company owner’s son had received a card from one of his contacts in France who talked about a day when people give each other cards, flowers, and chocolates.
He was immediately intrigued by the idea of gifting chocolates, and decided to implement it into his own company. This is when he decided to open a Valentine’s day fair in one of the biggest Japanese department stores in the 1950’s. His slogan for this event was “One day in the year that women can express their love”. Since then, Valentine’s day has been growing in popularity all around Japan.
Why do women gift chocolates and not men?
One of the marketing ideas was that men are not used to giving gifts. In Japanese culture, it’s considered a womanly role to give gifts to others. When advertised as a day when women give gifts it seemed to stick and work within Japanese society.
What should you give on Valentine’s day?
If you’re in Japan, you should give chocolates for Valentine’s day. Other gifts are not so common! You can buy nice chocolates but it’s also popular to make the chocolates yourself.
Who and how to give Valentine’s day chocolates
Someone you want to confess your love
A big part of Valentine’s day in Japan is that women use this opportunity to confess their feelings. By giving chocolates, they can also show that they have an interest.
In this case, you should give fancy looking chocolate or handmade ones. It should be obvious that these chocolates are different from the chocolates you’re giving everyone else! It’s also good to add either a letter or a verbal confession of your feelings. Give the chocolates in a discreet way if you’re not sure how the other person will react.
Someone you’re already dating
If you’re already dating someone, this is a great time to show how much you care for them. You can make handmade chocolates or get them something extra special. You can look forward to what they might get you for White day!
Men in your workplace or school
It’s common practice to give chocolates to men in your workplace or school. These chocolates are general ones that you give out without romantic feelings.
Just make sure that you’re giving the same chocolates to everyone to avoid misunderstandings. You should also choose cheaper chocolates and avoid handmade ones. If the male colleague or coworker has a wife, it’s a considerate to add a note that you hope he can enjoy the chocolates with his wife.
Friends
It has also become popular among female friends to exchange chocolates. You can give any kind of chocolates in these situations!
Types of Valentine’s day chocolates
Depending on who you’re giving the chocolates, Japanese people have different names for them!
Jibun you choco – 自分用チョコ – Your own chocolate
This is chocolate that you buy for yourself. If you’re a chocolate fan, you can splurge on Valentine’s day as a treat for yourself!
Tomo choco – 友チョコ – Friend chocolate
Chocolates you buy for your female friends go into this category.
Honmei choco – 本命チョコ – True feeling chocolate
This is the chocolate you would buy for the person you have true romantic feelings for.
Giri choco – 義理チョコ – Obligation chocolate
The most interesting naming for chocolate is the giri choco. Women feel an obligation to give chocolates on Valentine’s day. This refers to any chocolates given without romantic feelings to other men.
History of White day in Japan
White day on March 14th is actually an original celebration in Japan! It has come to be celebrated by other Asian countries such as in China or Taiwan. The idea of White day comes from the Japanese culture of giving back, also known as okaeshi. Men felt that they have to return something to the women who gave them chocolates.
The history of White day can be traced to the rise in popularity of Valentine’s day. Sweets companies started selling gifts that could be given in return for Valentine’s day chocolates. One theory says that it started when a company called Fujiya started selling “Return Valentine’s day” gifts and eventually partnered with a marshmallow company called Eiwa. They decided on a date of March 14th.
Who should you give gifts to?
For White day, you should give gifts to those who gave you Valentine’s day chocolates. This includes women you have a romantic interest and even those who gave you chocolates without romantic intent.
What should you give on White day?
White day has more options on gift giving than for Valentine’s day. You should give things like accessories or a nice box of sweets. Since it’s called White day, the sweets are typically white like white chocolate or marshmallows. If you received non-romantic chocolates on Valentine’s day you can get something that is on the cheaper side.
Even if you don’t have feelings for a woman who gave you chocolates, you should still give something back. In this case, it’s suggested to say that you appreciated their feelings but you can’t return the feelings. For the gift, you should give something small and not too expensive so that you don’t get the woman’s hopes up!
I hope that you’ve learned everything you need to know about Valentine’s day and White day in Japan! If you want to know more about Japanese culture be sure to check out my other articles like What does otaku mean in Japanese? or How to enjoy Japanese onsen (hot springs)
~Tanuki