Rencontre ROUYN (Thématique St-Valentin) samedi 9 février 2013 :: Date OFFICIEL

The Japanese celebrate St. Valentine's day in a rather unique fashion. Women give the men gifts of chocolate as well as other gifts.



These gifts of chocolate are divided into three types: giri choco (obligatory chocolate), honmei choco (chocolate for the man the woman is serious about) and tomo choco (chocolate for the woman's female friends).. Giri choco is given by women to their superiors at work as well as to other male co-workers. It is not unusual for a woman to buy 20 to 30 boxes of this type of chocolate for distribution around the office as well as to men that she has regular contact with. Tomo choco is a fairly recent development having appeared on the scene in the past few years.

Needless to say, the approach of Valentine's Day is something that department stores and shops look forward to and promote with zeal because of its potential for increased sales. Large displays featuring chocolate usually with heart-shaped displays start to grace the floors of department stores from mid-January or so.

A woman will normally purchase boxes of giri choco in the several hundred yen range and may purchase an expensive box of honmei choco and another gift such as a necktie for her "special someone". For her female friends, she generally chooses something in the medium price range that she would enjoy eating herself.

While all of this may seem quite one-sided, confectioners in Japan - never ones to miss an opportunity to sell more - took advantage of the Japanese feelings of obligation and created "White Day" in 1980 to help assuage the guilt feelings of those poor obligated males who received chocolate on Valentine's Day.

On March 14th, exactly one month after Valentine's Day, men who were lucky enough to receive gifts of chocolate have the chance to return the favor by giving the women who gave them gifts of chocolate a more expensive box of chocolate or sweets (for some reason or other, these return gifts seem to be priced slightly higher than those the women purchase). Again, the stores provide plenty of reminders of the approach of this day so that even the most forgetful man cannot say that it slipped his mind. The gifts of chocolate that men buy are in white boxes (after all, it is "White Day") and come with separate shopping bags to put them in.

Soon, it will be Valentine's Day. What better way to say "I love you" than by scaring the crap out of your darling?


Do-it-yourself style restaurant FabCafe in Shibuya is holding a special event that will allow you to scan your face and print out a mold. Then, a silicon version of the mold will be made, and chocolate will be poured into the mold, creating a chocolate truffle. Of your face. To eat.




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In Japan on Valentine's Day, women traditionally give chocolate, so this is limited to female participants only and costs ¥6,000 ($68) to partake. Not that high a price for the opportunity to turn your face into something that looks like it came from Silent Hill.




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According to IT Media, interested guys will be able to participate in March on White Day, when men traditionally give chocolate. Think of that as retaliation.

This month, Japanese snack maker Koikeya is releasing potato chips that have been designed with couples in mind. The chips are heart shaped and come in two flavors: Lemon Pepper and Sugar Butter. How romantic.


The Lemon Pepper chips have a "top hat" on them, so the presumption is that they are aimed at either men or individuals who own fancy headwear. The Sugar Butter chips are in pink packaging and have a ribbon on them, so they seem to be aimed at females—because all females have bows in their hair and like pink, right?

This is all pretty old fashioned: Lots of ladies like spicy food, and lots of dudes like sweets—and not all dudes date ladies and vice versa. But whatever!

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According to MyNavi, the chips are launching in December, because Christmas is somewhat of a romantic holiday in Japan (thanks Wham!). New Year's, however, is a family and spiritual holiday. The chips for lovers also hope to cash in on Valentine's Day, a holiday in which women give men chocolate, and White Day, a holiday in which men give women chocolate.

Chocolate? Why not potato chips?