Valentine's Day In Japan
Japanese people celebrate Valentine’s Day just like we do in America, but the traditions are a little different. In America, Valentine’s Day is a day for couples, for kids to exchange cards with their friends, and for young men with no game to spend way too much money trying to impress some broad. But in Japan, Valentine’s Day is generally a day where women give gifts to men. There’s a separate day, called White Day, where men give gifts to women. We’ll cover White Day on March 14th, but for now, we’ll talk about Japanese Valentine’s Day, and the gift I got from Eriko.
The preferred Belgian chocolates.
Much like in America, Japan’s Valentine’s Day traditions originally came from the marketing campaigns of sweets manufacturers, but have since been accepted as part of the culture. Traditionally, girls give boys chocolate for several reasons.
Giri choco is for your coworkers or boss, to show appreciation, and doesn’t have an overly romantic connotation. The same is true for Tomo choco, or chocolate exchanged between friends. Generally, if a woman gives you chocolate on Valentine’s Day, you get her something for White Day.
When young girls have a crush, they give something called Honmei choco. The girl gives the boy she likes chocolate, and tells him she likes him. One month later, on White Day, he will give her something back, and tell her how he feels about her. If he likes her back, they can become a couple. Since Eriko likes me, she got me a box of fancy Belgian chocolate!
My wife has a crush on me. Tee-hee.
These chocolates were only in our home for a few minutes before they were consumed with ravenous fury. First up was this white guy:
Oishisou.
This one is hazelnut, coffee flavor, and fresh cream. It was soft, deep, beautiful. Definitely our favorite from the bunch.
I made him watch while I devoured his friend.
Orange peel and bitter chocolate sticks. Very good, not too chewy. I approve.
Seems indecent to look at it without its wrapper.
Milk chocolate praline. Eriko says, “I like this.”
Friends!
Nuts and dried fruit. A nice palate-cleanser after so much heavy chocolate, though not the star of the show.
Two!
And finally, on the left we have sugar-free milk chocolate praline, and on the right, Gianduja, extremely soft praline. Gianduja was Eriko’s favorite (she has claimed two favorites, apparently), and a great one to end on. Overall, they were all sweet (but not too sweet) and rich (but not too rich), the perfect amount for a nice little snack that didn’t make me feel too bad about myself.
How will things turn out? Will I get Eriko something for White Day? Will I return her statement of crush? WILL WE BE A COUPLE? Stay tuned to find out!
