Monthly Theme: March 2015 - White Day

White Day

Origin:

White Day is a day that is marked in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China on March 14^th, 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 14^th, 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.

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