Valentine's Day in Japan

Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th in Japan, however it is different from the States.  Valentine's Day is all about chocolate, not going out for dinner, flowers or cards.  In fact, during this time of year, Japanese chocolate companies make half of their annual sales.

The even bigger difference is the fact that only the girls/women give chocolates to boys/men on Valentine's Day.  Apparently there was a translation error when Valentine's Day was introduced to Japan and so only the women gave chocolates!  However, in the 1980's the Japanese National Confectionary Industry Association decided to create a day for the men to return the favor to the women, White Day.  White Day is celebrated on March 14th and is named after the color of the chocolates.  There was an attempt to make White Day about giving marshmallows, but that failed.  So chocolates it is!  Men may also give other gifts, such as jewelry, clothes and accessories.  It is expected for the men to give gifts or chocolate to the women that are at least 2 or 3 times the value of what they received.

Jeff and I went to the mall recently and there was a large section devoted to Valentine's Day.  Within that section, there was an area to make your own chocolates.  Women may make their own chocolates and decorate them or buy ones already made.  What a selection of chocolates!  They have chocolates from all over the world.  There was a large price range for the different chocolates too! 

There are displays of the chocolates over the boxes so you know what is inside each box. This is a picture of the fancier chocolates, it was also very expensive. It's almost too pretty to eat, so I just took a picture.  The large red "x" over the sign means it is sold out.

We brought some candy with us from the States to give to our neighbor friends for Valentine's Day.  When we were delivering them, our neighbors gave us some chocolate candy in return.

One of our neighbors made their own chocolates.  Here is their work of art!

We decided to celebrate like we do in the States, so we all bought chocolates for each other.  (Killian was happy with his marshmallows and chocolate chips from home!)

We picked these up for Katherine and Chloe.  They are chocolates filled with honey or strawberries.  Yum yum!

Chloe is waiting patiently to try some baumkuchen ring, it's very popular here all year round.

I bought Jeff some fancy chocolates made at a hotel in Tokyo.  I figured I will only be in Japan for Valentine's Day once, so live it up and get the good stuff.  Apparently these chocolates have liquor in them, I didn't figure this out until we tried them.  (I also bought chocolates like these for my Mom!)  I was very curious to know what the green one tastes like.  Turns out it is green tea flavored, no big surprise there!

These are the chocolates Jeff got for me.  Some of my favorites from back home so I didn't miss a thing!

Recognize this chocolate?

It's a Wonka bar, but unfortunately, there was no golden ticket inside!

I hope you enjoyed reading about Valentine's Day.  I will be on the lookout for White Day chocolates and try to post pictures when I find them!

Until next time!