Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
To all the male folks here: If you lived in Japan, you'd probably get lots of chocolate today from the ladies around you.
The reason is that in Japan, there's the custom on Valentine's Day that women give men chocolate - not only to their boyfriends, husbands etc, but also to male friends and coworkers, which means, men they feel obligated to in some way. Obligation is a huge thing in Japan. People always say "thank you for your help" to each other, even when they haven't really done anything together yet; it's just an essential part of their culture and social attitude.
That said, the Valentine's custom of "obligational chocolate" - yes, that's actually the word for it, "giri choco" (
giri means a sense of obligation) - is mainly a clever commerical idea.
I've also heard that
giri choco is a safe way for Japanese girls who are too shy to tell a guy they like him to express their feelings through a chocolate gift.
Then - and I think this exists only in Japan - one month later, on March 14th, it's "White Day": Men have to give women something in return!
So again, shops are loaded with all kinds of cute little candy articles, heart-shaped cakes, etc (not necessarily white).
Anyway, I hope everybody is having a nice day and a good start into the new week, chocolate or not.
Author