After a year in which Feb. 14 fell on a Sunday — and possibly two years of 在宅勤務 (zaitaku kinmu, working from home) due to the pandemic — women across Japan must be dreading the return of バレンタインデー (barentain dē, Valentine’s Day) at the office.
Why, might you ask, has a collective sigh of relief turned into, well, just a plain old chorus of sighs? It all comes down to the practice of giving out 義理チョコ (giri choko, obligatory chocolates).
As anyone who has lived in Japan might know, the tradition here is that Valentine’s Day is a one-way holiday on which women give 本命チョコ (honmei choko, lit., “first choice” chocolate), to men they fancy. Over time, this has also resulted in the tradition of women bringing chocolates to the office and, since they can’t single one lucky guy out in front of everyone, giving chocolates to everyone: 義理チョコ.