Giri choco
{{Short description|Type of Valentine's Day chocolate in Japan}}
{{Italic title|reason=:Category:Japanese words and phrases}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Giri choco
| image = Giri-choco.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = A bag of {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}}
| alternate_name =
| country = Japan
| region =
| creator =
| course =
| type = Chocolate
| served =
| main_ingredient = Chocolate
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
{{nihongo|Giri choco|義理チョコ||{{literal translation}} "obligation chocolate"}} is chocolate given by women to men on Valentine's Day in Japan as a customary gift. Unlike {{lang|ja-Latn|honmei choco}}, which is given to romantic partners, {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} is a type of chocolate that women give to male co-workers, bosses, and acquaintances out of appreciation and politeness. Men generally reciprocate by giving women gifts on White Day, which is celebrated on March 14.
History
On Valentine's Day in Japan, {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} is inexpensive chocolate that women give to male co-workers and friends to show appreciation and respect as opposed to {{lang|ja-Latn|honmei choco}}, chocolate that is given to romantic partners.{{cite news | first=Tim | last=McDonald | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47112489 | title=Valentine's Day: Japan falling out of love with 'obligation chocolates' | work=BBC News | date=2019-02-13 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-04-28 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428154517/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47112489 | url-status=live }} While Japan has a strong gift-giving culture, the origins of giving chocolate on Valentine's Day is unclear.{{cite magazine | first=Toko | last=Sekiguchi | url=http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1589631,00.html | title=How Valentine's Day Conquered Japan | magazine=Time | date=2007-02-14 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217004227/http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1589631,00.html | archivedate=2007-02-17}} One popular explanation is that the trend was started by junior high school girls, who would give handmade chocolate to boys to see if they returned their affections,{{cite news | first=Lucy | last=Craft | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123635365 | title=Japanese Embrace Valentine's Day | work=NPR | date=2010-02-12 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2018-03-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302104039/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123635365 | url-status=live }} and it later became commercialized in the mid-1950s,{{cite news | first=Justin | last=McCurry | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/11/japanese-women-push-back-against-valentines-tradition-of-obligation-chocolate | title=Japanese women push back against Valentine's tradition of 'obligation chocolate' | work=The Guardian | date=2019-02-10 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2024-07-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727053740/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/11/japanese-women-push-back-against-valentines-tradition-of-obligation-chocolate | url-status=live }} with the first Valentine's sale taking place in 1958 at Mary Chocolate.
Harumichi Yamada from Tokyo Keizai University stated that the practice of giving chocolate occurred because women expressing their love to men was considered disgraceful, and confectioneries capitalized on chocolate as a way for them to profess their love; however, as the social status of women improved, Valentine's Day was later considered a day where women give chocolate to men, through which the {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} custom emerged. Sachiko Horiguchi from Temple University, Japan Campus suggested that the {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} custom first occurred in the 1980s where working women were obligated to give chocolate to their co-workers and bosses, as both of the Japanese corporate and gift-giving cultures made it appropriate for this exchange to take place.{{cite news | first1=Kumiko | last1=Yamane | first2=Ken | last2=Hasegawa | url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN264JSNN1ZPTIL02D.html | title=「義理チョコやめよう」賛否呼んだ広告、ゴディバの真意 | language=ja | work=Asahi Shimbun | date=2020-02-12 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-05-29 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529100714/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN264JSNN1ZPTIL02D.html | url-status=live }}
Japanese chocolate confectioneries make 70% of their business through Valentine's Day annually. The Chocolate & Cocoa Association of Japan reported that, in 2005, approximately {{US$|400,000,000|2005}} was spent on Valentine's Day chocolates. The average woman spent {{US$|36|2007}} on {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} in 2007, while it dropped to {{JPY|1033}} in 2019.{{cite news | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/08/national/women-buy-valentines-chocs-others-japanese-survey-shows/#.XGAzWS2ZPv1 | title=Majority of women to buy Valentine's chocolates for themselves, averaging ¥4,200, Japan survey shows | work=The Japan Times | date=2019-02-08 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-08-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810212002/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/08/national/women-buy-valentines-chocs-others-japanese-survey-shows/#.XGAzWS2ZPv1 | url-status=live }}
In the 1980s, White Day began as a tradition where men would reciprocate {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} gifts in order to boost sales. White Day gift sales are heavily influenced by sales from Valentine's Day.{{cite news | first=Brian | last=Lufkin | url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190313-white-day-japans-reverse-valentines-day | title=White Day: Japan's reverse Valentine's Day | work=BBC News | date=2019-03-14 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-12-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206092015/https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190313-white-day-japans-reverse-valentines-day | url-status=live }}
Criticism
The tradition of giving {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} is losing popularity in Japan beginning in the late 2010s and is criticized for pressuring women to buy chocolate for their co-workers to avoid offending them. Some companies have banned the practice, citing it as power harassment. Instead, women opt to give {{nihongo|friendship chocolate|友チョコ|tomo choco}} to their friends.{{cite news | first=Ryotaro | last=Nakamaru | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/13/business/not-much-obliged-japanese-women-buying-valentines-chocolates-not-colleagues/#.XH7hzNF7lTY | title=Not so much obliged: More Japanese women buying Valentine's chocolates for themselves, not colleagues | work=The Japan Times | date=2019-02-13 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-06-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612145634/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/13/business/not-much-obliged-japanese-women-buying-valentines-chocolates-not-colleagues/#.XH7hzNF7lTY | url-status=live }} A 2017 survey from 3M showed that only 40% of the women surveyed planned to give chocolate to their male co-workers, compared to 80% in a 2007 survey conducted by a different company. In 2018, Godiva Chocolatier also criticized the practice of giving {{lang|ja-Latn|giri choco}} with a full-page advertisement, calling for workplaces to ban it entirely, though some critics have accused them of stealth marketing.{{cite news | first=Chisato | last=Tanaka | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/06/national/godivas-dig-obligatory-valentines-chocolates-stirs-debate-japan/ | title=Godiva's dig at obligatory Valentine's chocolates stirs debate in Japan | work=The Japan Times | date=2018-02-06 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-10-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017205222/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/06/national/godivas-dig-obligatory-valentines-chocolates-stirs-debate-japan/ | url-status=live }}{{cite news | first=Jake | last=Adelstein | authorlink=Jake Adelstein | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/adelsteinjake/2018/02/12/why-godiva-japan-took-out-a-full-page-ad-asking-people-not-to-buy-valentines-day-chocolate/#55698ba2022a | title=Why Godiva Japan Took Out A Full Page Ad Asking People Not To Buy Valentine's Day Chocolate | work=Forbes | date=2018-02-18 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2020-08-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810232210/https://www.forbes.com/sites/adelsteinjake/2018/02/12/why-godiva-japan-took-out-a-full-page-ad-asking-people-not-to-buy-valentines-day-chocolate/#55698ba2022a | url-status=live }}{{cite news | first=Leo | last=Lewis | url=https://www.ft.com/content/27ff6336-0a73-11e8-839d-41ca06376bf2 | title=Bittersweet campaign to liberate Japan's office workers | work=Financial Times | date=2018-02-07 | accessdate=2020-05-24 | archive-date=2024-07-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727053741/https://www.ft.com/content/27ff6336-0a73-11e8-839d-41ca06376bf2 | url-status=live }}
Honmei choco
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Honmei choco
| image = Valentine's Day Tirol-Choco.jpg
| caption =
| alternate_name =
| country = Japan
| region =
| creator =
| course =
| type = Chocolate
| served =
| main_ingredient = Chocolate
| variations = Giri choco
| calories =
| other =
}}
{{Nihongo|Honmei choco|本命チョコ||"true feeling chocolate"}} in Japan is chocolate given by women on Valentine's Day to men whom the giver has romantic feelings for. This is often given to husbands, boyfriends, and desired partners. Honmei chocolate is usually higher-quality and more expensive than giri choco ("obligation chocolate"), which is given to male coworkers and other men the woman has no romantic attachment to.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123635365|title=Japanese Embrace Valentine's Day|publisher=National Public Radio|accessdate=February 14, 2010|date=February 12, 2010|last=Craft|first=Lucy|archive-date=March 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302104039/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123635365|url-status=live}}
Homemade honmei choco is also popular.{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1589631,00.html|title=How Valentine's Day Conquered Japan|magazine=Time|accessdate=April 23, 2016|date=February 14, 2007|last=Sekiguchi|first=Toko|archive-date=May 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528220827/http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1589631,00.html|url-status=live}}
This is generally reciprocated on White Day, celebrated on March 14, when men buy candy and gifts for women.
File:Valentine%27s_Day_Chocolate.jpg
File:White_Day_001.jpg
See also
{{portal|Food}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Japanese social terms}}