My Valentine?

I've never been a big fan of February 14. But in the spirit of giving, I thought I would share with you one of the unique traditions in this country.

In most places around the world, Valentine's Day is all about the ladies. Men famously agonize for weeks over the perfect gift, dinner, night out, whatever, for the object of their affection. Women sit around and wait to be impressed. As it should be.

In Japan, however, things are backwards. Women give men gifts. Usually of chocolate. In fact, there are two types of gifts, giri choco, obligatory chocolates for bosses or co-workers, and honmei choco, for their true love.

Not ones to miss out on a marketing opportunity, in 1978 the National Confectionery Industry Association began to take advantage of the deep feelings of obligation (especially as relates to gifts) in the form of White Day, held one month after V-day, on March 14. This is the day for men to repay the kindness shown to them by their loved one, or their employee, by purchasing any number of White Day gifts. link

I had the fortune of experiencing this particular oddity firsthand last year. It just so happened that my first visit to one of my elementary school's after having returned from the Snow Festival in Hokkaido was on Valentine's Day. When you take a trip in Japan, usually you are expected to bring some kind of omiyage or souvenir for your co-workers. The gift to bring from Sapporo is a white chocolate biscuit called Shiro Koibito, or white lover. So, being the good employee that I am, I brought some white lover back for all of my schools. Because of the fairly rigid hierarchy in Japan, usually I give the gifts to the principal of the school, telling him that it's for everyone. Then they pass it along. Usually they understand this.

About month later, close to White Day, I realized the message on this particular occasion hadn't been clear. I was actually quite confused at first, when my principal came up to me in the staffroom. A bit embarrassed, he looked at me, fumbled for a minute trying to think of what to say in English, decided he couldn't do it, and handed me a small bag with some sweets from Tokyo in it. Surprised, I thanked him and he was on his way.

It took the rest of the day to figure out what had happened - apparently he mistook the Sapporo omiyage for a Valentine's gift, of the giri choco variety I assume, and therefore was reciprocating with a White Day gift. It was so sweet I didn't have the heart to tell him my gift had been omiayge, intended for everyone (*^_^*)

With V-day safely on a Saturday this year, I plan to celebrate (by which I mean completely ignore) the holiday snowboarding in Nagano. So doubtful I'll get any White Day gifts this year... but I guess we'll just have to wait and see ^^