Happy Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is very popular, it is widely celebrated by many people around the world.  In Japan, the way people celebrate the Valentine’s Day is a bit different from the way it is celebrated in the U.S.  When we hear the word, “Valentine’s Day”, the first thing that comes to our mind is, Chocolates! In this article, I would like to introduce you how the Japanese”celebrate the Valentine’s Day, and how the custom of “the Chocolates” began.

Valentine’s Day – History in Japan:

In Japan, people started to celebrate Valentine’s Day in 1950’s. By 1970’s, the idea of the Valentine’s Day in Japan became a bit unique in that “women give chocolates to men.”  Why chocolates?  Why not flowers? Well, that is because the chocolate company started this tradition.  Back in 1958, the chocolate company called “Mary Chocolate” in Japan did a campaign at the Isetan department store in Tokyo, promoting chocolates for Valentine’s Day.  The first attempt was not successful since not too many people knew about the Valentine’s Day itself.

The following year, the company came up with a new idea of making the chocolates into heart shapes, and offered a service of engraving recipient’s name on the chocolate.  They also added a slogan saying” Valentine’s Day is the day for a woman to share love with someone she loves”  By 1970’s, the Chocolate and Cocoa Association of Japan announced that February 14th be the date for Chocolates.  Since then, on February 14th, women started to give chocolates to men.

These days, thanks to the promotions from many of the chocolate companies, girls and women in Japan give out many different types of chocolates.  The chocolate that has always been around is the “Honmei choco (ほんめいチョコ、本命チョコ)”, which is the chocolate that is given only to the person she loves. And then, there is another kind of chocolates called “Giri choco(ぎりチョコ、義理チョコ)”, which means, “Obligatory chocolates”.  These chocolates are given to male friends, co-workers, sometimes, to customers. The last one is called “Family Choco (ファミリーチョコ), which literally means the chocolates for your family!

Starting at the beginning of February, you will see many stores carrying nicely wrapped chocolates. There are so many different types of chocolates these days.

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You might be wondering how much do women have to spend to give out all these chocolates on Valentine’s Day in Japan. Well, you don’t necessarily buy chocolates. You can also give home made chocolates as well.

If you are interested, try making this Chocolate Cup. Very simple to make.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!