White Day

Valentine ’s Day is a day where we can show our loved ones that we care for them with chocolates and flowers. It is a day of the year when the chocolate stores are crowded and seeing confused men in Victoria Secret is a common thing; as they struggle to find something nice for their valentine-this is when you realize why God had created gift cards. The same goes with woman such as me. This Valentine’s day I went rushing to buy my valentine something nice. I endured waiting in line for twenty minutes at  the chocolate store just to buy him a box of chocolates. In Japan this tradition is also practice but there is a second part to this tradition. 

In Japan it is the women who actually go out of their way to deliver chocolates and gifts to the guys.  They are either handmade goods or store bought. But be careful, just because a Japanese girl gives you a chocolate doesn’t mean she is head over heels for you. There are two types of Valentine’s Day gift. There is Honmei-choco which is chocolate of love and then there is Giri-choco which is a courtesy chocolate.  Giri-choco I would describes it as "just friends" chocolate.  Three reasons you would get a valentine’s day chocolate  would either be an expression of love, courtesy or social obligation. A social obligation would be like your boss or coworker.   

Now the second part of the Japanese valentines day tradition is called white day which is one month after Valentines day - March 14th. When I am talking about white day I am not talking about the day when the bride gets married. So I repeat white day does not mean the wedding day, unless your wedding day happens to fall on March 14.  Men who received a valentines gift from a girl pay their respects either with honmei-choco or Giri-hoco.

White day’s most common gifts are cookies, candies and white chocolates instead of just chocolates. What I read in MIT Japanese Culture Notes is that there is a superstition among the young people that if you give someone cookies it means “I love you”, if you give someone candy it means “I like you” and if you are given white chocolate it means “let’s be friends.”  Other common gifts are jewelry, handbags, shoes, wallets, scarves, handkerchiefs, and stuffed animals.  

So if you ever do go to Japan during this time  of the year or if you ever get a Japanese boyfriend or girlfriend don’t be so surprise when Valentine’s day or White day arrives.  Plus take some pride in knowing white day in Japan means Valentine's day for girls. Or else you will be looking like the girl on the left of this picture.