It’s the month of February and you can expect Japanese to be making the most out of this season of Love. In Japan, whether you are single or a couple, everyone, particularly the ladies celebrate Valentine’s day.
Japanese ladies give chocolates to most of the men in their lives. From their colleagues to friends to family. There are 2 types of chocolates they give. The GIRI CHOCO（義理チョコ）which is an obligatory chocolate which is often given to their superiors, co-workers and friends. The second type is the HOMMEI CHOCO （本命チョコ）which is the chocolate given to the guy she really really likes. This could be for a boyfriend, husband or someone she has a crush on. The Giri Choco are usually the inexpensive chocolates while the Hommei Choco are those that are a bit more pricey. The Hommei Choco could come with a gift for the gentleman. It is not surprising to see women buying 20 to 30 chocolates during Valentine’s and retail stores take full advantage of this season. Some ladies would actually make a Hommei Choco to give to the man they care about.
The most recent addition to the types of chocolates are the TOMO CHOCO （友チョコ）, GYAKU CHOCO（逆チョコ）, FAMI CHOCO（ファミチョコ）, SEWA CHOCO（世話チョコ）, JIBUN CHOCO（自分チョコ） or MY CHOCO（マイチョコ）. Tomo Choco are what girls give to each other. Gyaku Choco what the guys give the girls. Fami Choco is for the family. Sewa Choco is for those who has taken care of you, and Jibun Choco or My Choco is for yourself. It is said that 20% of the annual chocolate consumption in Japan happens during this season.
The stores look like a Valentine’s version of Christmas in the Philippines. It is like a festival of hearts. Chocolates are the highlights of the stores, but you will definitely see many promotions even in stores that do not sell sweets.
One example I found is the promotion of CROCS Japan last year. Crocs Japan had a Valentine’s Campaign where they gave away an original gift bag for their retails stores and the online store for a purchase of Crocs shoes. Aside from the gift giveaway, they had a special Valentine’s window display and had the Cocoa aroma in their stores. Not only that! They even had a chocolate fondue on February 14 for all the customers who will drop by their flagship store in Aoyama and their newest branch in Jiyuu ga oka. On their website, they promoted crocs with chocolate colors together with their mobile phone case, also with a chocolate color. (crocs press release: http://www.atpress.ne.jp/view/10183; crocs promotion: http://crocs.co.jp/special/valentine_2009)
Check out the website of one of the top department stores in Japan, Mitsukoshi. There are 31 high-end brand of chocolates that are promoted on their online store. They have chocolates made by world famous pâtissier from their world famous restaurants. They even categorized which chocolate is for which purpose (Hommei, Giri) and they have an explanation!
Price range is from ¥525 ~ ¥28350. with many of the them less than ¥2100. I am lost for words for the selection of chocolates they have. Amazing! Awesome! Unbelievable! Looks soooooo yummy! Check it out for yourself at http://www.mitsukoshi.co.jp/valentine/. And that’s just one department store. Just imagine that each department store has their own Valentine’s chocolate promotion, and every store has some kind of Valentine’s promotions.
One of the most popular entertainment management company, Johnnys used to receive trucks and trucks of chocolates from fans from all over Japan. Johnnys manages most of the top Japanese male talents like SMAP, TOKIO, ARASHI, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, etc. But now, they had to disallow such gifts to be sent to their artists.
Maybe some of you are thinking that its quite unfair since only the ladies are putting so much effort on Valentine’s day. Not to worry. Men will have an opportunity to give back! Will write about that next time!
Contributor: Ms. Yumi Calderon - Japanese interpreter, trainer and consultant