皆さん, こんにちは! Minasan, konnichiwa! Hello everyone! 🌸
Another holiday that Germany and Japan have in common is there: Valentine's Day! ❤
While in Germany mainly men bring flowers or gifts for their woman or invite them to eat, the opposite happens here: the women are giving something to the men. As a rule, chocolate is given away on February 14th. 😋
And there is a lot of chocolate here in the weeks before. Maybe you saw my post from a chocolate shop in the pictures of the day. It was built for this purpose on the 7th floor of the Takashimaya department store.
The floor is full of little chocolate stalls. Various companies and chocolate in all colors and shapes are represented there. It is amazing what you discover and in which price ranges the chocolate can be for this day. 😶
On this day, the women not only give chocolate to their partner or crush but also colleagues, teachers or friends. A distinction is made between the Honmei chocolate for the loved one, the Giri chocolate, a kind of "mandatory chocolate" as a thank you, and the Tomo chocolate, chocolate for the friends. 🍫
Since it is chocolate with different meanings, the difference should be obvious to avoid misunderstandings. The Giri-Schoki can be something simple, whereas for the Honmei-Schoki you put a little more effort into it. Many therefore choose to make this special chocolate themselves. For this purpose, even certain courses are offered in which one can learn how to prepare and decorate chocolate.
On February 14th there is a lot of chocolate in circulation, but exactly one month later the chocolate purchase continues. March 14th is the "White Day" and now women are taking on the role of the recipient. Here the men are expected to return chocolate to the women. Not only should your partner be given gifts, but you should consider everyone from whom you received chocolate a month ago. Another rule: the price of the chocolate should be about 3 times the price of the original gift. For your partner, jewelry or something like that can also be added as a gift. 🎁
You can tell that the chocolate business is particularly successful at the beginning of the year. But there is also a little protest. For example, the Kakumeiteki Himote Domei group (Revolutionary Alliance of Unpopular Men) roams the streets of Tokyo. On a website I read the following:
Like every year, the Kakumeiteki Himote Domei group demonstrated in Tokyo against Valentine's Day. The event was not very well attended due to the bad weather. The group, whose name translates as "revolutionary alliance of unpopular men", criticize Valentine's Day as "romantic capitalism". Besides, Chairman Takayuki Akimoto also criticized the increase in women buying chocolate. The protest march, accompanied by a police escort, led through Shibuya. The participants loudly demanded that the confectionery of the confectionery manufacturers should not be controlled. Kakumeiteki Himote Domei also protests against White Day and Christmas Eve. It is difficult to judge whether the group is a fun association or not. Nevertheless, some very important points are raised and criticized. It said "Don't judge a person's value by how much Valentine's Day chocolate he gets" or "It's wrong to make fun of unpopular people".
It is debatable whether and to what extent gifts have to be given on this day. But if you would like to hand something over to your partner today and have nothing prepared: try doing it like the Japanese people. Chocolate is always good. 😋
次回まで! Jikai made! See you next time! 💕
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