White
Day
Origin:
White Day is a day that is marked in Japan, South Korea,
Taiwan and China on March 14th, one month after Valentine’ s Day. It
is considered the “Answer Day” to Valentine’s Day on the grounds that men
should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on
Valentine’s Day.
White
Day which was first celebrated in 1978 in Japan, was started by the National
Confectionery Industry Association. In 1977, a Fukuoka-based Confectionery
Company marketed marshmallows on March 14th, calling it “Marshmallow
Day”. Soon thereafter, confectionery companies began marketing white chocolate.
Now, men give both white and dark chocolate, as well as other edible and
non-edible gifts.
The
Chocolate:
There are two types of chocolate that are often be seen
following the tradition: The Honmei-Choco and The Giri-choco.
The Honmei-Choco is given by women on Valentine’s Day to
men whom the giver has romantic feelings for. The closest meaning of
“honmei-choco” is true feeling chocolate or the chocolate of love. Therefore,
it is often given to husbands, boyfriends and prospective boyfriends.Honmei
chocolate is usually higher-quality and more expensive than giri-choco.
The Giri-Choco is literally the obligation chocolate. It
is also given by women to men on Valentine’s Day. Giri chocolate is a
relatively inexpensive type of chocolate that women give to male co-workers, casual
acquaintances and others to whome they have no romantic attachment. If the
Giri-Choco were given by men on White Day, they might not be expressing actual
romantic interest, but rather a social obligation.
Observation:
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is typically observed by girls
and women presenting chocolate gifts (either store-bought or handmade) as an
expression of love, courtesy or social obligation. Handmade chocolate is usally
preferred by the recipient because of the perception of sincerity, effort and
emotion put in a homemade confection.
On White Day, the reverse happens: men who received a
Honmei-Choco or a Giri-Choco on Valentine’s Day are expected to return the
favor by giving gifts. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies,
jewelry, white lingerie, white chocolate and marshamallows. Sometimes the term
“triple the return” is used to described the generally recited rule that the
return gift should be two to three times the worth of the Valentine’s Gift.
In South Korea, White Day is also observed as the day for
men to give women sweets, as a sort of repayment for the gifts women gave on
Valentine’s Day. However, in contrast to Japan, men generally purchase
lollipops or other hard candies for the holiday. Chocolate gift sets are also
sold for the holiday, but the majority of the gifts sets are filled with hard
candies.
Credits:
This is a special project for NIS
Illustrated by Linh Daikon.
All the photos were taken by me, Linh Daikon. Please don't erase the watermarks.
Get in touch with me:
Facebook: Linh Daikon
Instagram: linhdaikon
I'm currently active on Facebook and Instagram only!
Email: linhdaikon@gmail.com
Illustrated by Linh Daikon.
All the photos were taken by me, Linh Daikon. Please don't erase the watermarks.
Get in touch with me:
Facebook: Linh Daikon
Instagram: linhdaikon
I'm currently active on Facebook and Instagram only!
Email: linhdaikon@gmail.com