The way Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Japan — initially beginning as a day for women to offer boxes of chocolates to men they have feelings for — is evolving with the rising prices of cocoa and changes in customs.

For one, fewer people are handing out chocolates to others at work, which had been a widespread practice over the past few decades. Known as giri choko, which roughly translates as “courtesy chocolate” to differentiate it from chocolate given to someone special, female workers would gift their male co-workers and bosses with sweets as a way to express their daily gratitude in accordance with the celebration.

However, fewer are feeling inclined to partake in the custom. According to a recent survey in January from major insurance company Nippon Life Insurance, only 12.5% of respondents said they plan to give anything to coworkers on Valentine’s Day. In the prepandemic era in 2020, for example, it was at 23.7%.

“This is thought to be due to the further decline in the culture of giri choko as remote work further takes root, as well as the increasing prioritization of chocolates to partners and reward chocolates (to oneself) due to the increasing prices,” said Naoko Kuga, a researcher at the NLI Research Institute, regarding the survey results.

According to data by Teikoku Databank, the average cost of a piece of chocolate was a record ¥418. Just three years ago, when the data firm began tracking prices, the average was ¥356.

The rise is due to both the weaker yen and the stark hike in prices of cocoa in 2024 because of crop declines in Ivory Coast and Ghana.

However, many are actually willing to spend more money on chocolate — just not for their coworkers.

According to a survey by market research company Intage, female respondents were more interested in spending money on themselves for Valentine’s Day than on their co-workers, with the average spending on chocolate seeing a general increase.

Although the average budget that women are willing to spend this year has gone down 9% to ¥4,574 compared to the previous year of ¥5,024 mainly due to the hike in prices, it was still significantly higher than 2023, when the average was ¥3,750.

The past two years saw an increase in the number of those looking to buy chocolates for themselves as a reward, known as jibun choko. There has also been growing interest, though still small, in oshi choko, or buying chocolates regarding a thing or person that one is passionate about. Examples range from people buying chocolate from their favorite chocolatier to buying chocolate that is somehow reminiscent of their favorite idol group.

The demographic of who purchases chocolate is also shifting. While it has been tradition in Japan for women to give out chocolates on Valentine's Day, a recent survey by the education app Studyplus showed around 23% of male middle and high school students said they plan to offer chocolate to friends or someone they like.