-Shop cute Japanese products and cool products from Japan. This cute blog is about Japanese kawaii, kawaii Japan, kawaii fashion, Japanese pop culture and more. It's a kawaii blog from Japan, Japan blog in English by a Japanese girl.

Tokyo Kawaii, etc. -Cute kawaii information directly from Tokyo!-

Valentine’s Day in Japan

author Posted by: kirin on date Feb 15th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Uncategorized

valentine sales1 225x300 Valentines Day in Japan

valentine sales3 225x300 Valentines Day in Japan

valentine sales4 300x225 Valentines Day in Japan

 Valentine’s Day in Japan is a day for girls to give chocolates to boys. I think I wrote about that last year in my previous blog.  Yes, 1 year has passed since I started up my blog. 

It’s a good chance to try out several different kinds of chocolates before Valentine’s Day. Yes, sampling chocolates from Europe is one good thing that I am expecting this period. icon razz Valentines Day in Japan
As in the photos here, I’m always hanging out Shibuya area to sample chocolates where we could purchase chocolates from Switzerland, France, Austria, Belgium, NY, and some famous chocolate brands from Japan. So you can see it’s a day for chocolates as well.

I do not always buy chocolates to my hubby, but instead, I’d buy some nice sweets so we can share with. At the same time, of course, I do not expect anything from him on “White Day” which is a day for men to return candies to the women who gave them chocolates. To me, these days seem to be for confectionery makers to gain profit. Exchanging cards or giving flowers is also nice, and we don’t have to stick so much to chocolates. This is how I feel.

This weekend actually was far from Valentine’s Day or anything. I’m trying to work for videos. I mean, from DVD recorded program to the online video that I can show on this blog. To be exact, I am not capable of technical things at all, and my hubby struggled against that for me.

BTW, the chocolate looks so cute!
pixel Valentines Day in Japan

 Powered by Max Banner Ads 
  If you enjoy this post, subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter!  
tagsTags:

tag10 Responses to “Valentine’s Day in Japan”

  1. Dutchie Said,
    February 15th, 2009 at 3:52 pm edit

    I think that a White Day kinda deflects ur romantic mood doesn’t it :roll: ? I mean, u know something’s in the air n u r being teased for another day b4 u could find out what that is ?
    OOh .. I cant stand suspense ! Perhaps there r others who r patient n can appreciate White Day :lol:

    We hv 2 chocolaterie in our small town. They do serve up the finest handmade bonbons, which simply melts on ur tongue. All kinds of coffee flavours with a tinge of chilli r the trend. Classic favourites with cream pralines, whole nuts, fruit likeur r always available. They r very expensive n I go there only 2-3 times a year, specially to handpick a selection for my hubby. Each piece cost average € 2,50 to € 10,00 but it’s really heavenly.

    I’m not a chocolate fan, but I do like it in ice creams n cakes which hubby would hv no interest in :cry: .

    It’s interesting that u mentioned european chocolates. R they nicer than Japanese brands ? I still hv a box of Mozart in the fridge. They r round in shape n wrapped in gold with an image of the great musician. The dark chocolate is filled with whisky.

    The dutch dont really warmed up to Valentine’s Day. It is more significant in USA, AUS, Latin America, Singapore, etc where romantic dinners r organised in clubs, restaurants n hotels. I definitely prefer to be wined n dined. It’s my 1 day off the kitchen :wink:

  2. Walter Said,
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:17 pm edit

    :smile:
    They do look very cute , Kirin.

    I think they’re a bit overdecorated for Belgian tastes, though.
    Over here , where we call them pralines , we have many shapes , but not as elaborate as that :smile:

    Did you know that the first filled chocolate was invented in 1912 here in Belgium by the ‘Chocolatier’ ( artisan who makes chocolate confectionery ) Jean Neuhaus :?:
    A few years later his wife invented :idea: the typical box chocolates are packaged and presented in.

    We still have small praline shops where pralines are handmade with the best chocolate , fresh cream and butter. There’s one in Leuven , where I visit regularly to buy books and so on. The chocolate smell when entering that shop ( the wife stands in the shop while her husband and assistants are making them in the back ) almost knocks you of your feet :!:
    Not that the well known top brands like Neuhaus, Godiva and Leonidas ( to name a few) are not top quality either!
    Au contraire !
    ( :cool: Google ‘praline’ : you’ll find their sites straight away)
    I agree with you that giving chocolate should be a thing of choice , not commercialized. Even here in Belgium , birthplace of the chocolate, flowers or any other present are just as good.
    It’s the thought that counts, we say, not the shape and size of the gift.

    Social pressure should not be a reason to give chocolate or any other present. It should come from the heart.
    I wouldn’t like receiving giri-choco ; really :neutral:

  3. kirin Said,
    February 16th, 2009 at 11:22 am edit

    @Dutchie,

    Actually there are famous chocolate shops such as Neuhaus, Godiva and Leonidas (wow, just as Walter mentions in his comment) in Tokyo and same here as you say, only a small piece of chocolate costs like a casual lunch! We think that speaking of chocolate, chocolate from Europe is best of all, Japanese brands are not bad though…

    As for me, I prefer cookie, waffle, crepe, pancake, scone, etc. to chocolate. I like them and small piece of chocolate inside them. :smile:

    @Walter,

    Neuhaus chocolate was always a souvenir from my boss whenever he was back from Europe, when I was working for SANYO. (long time ago by now :lol: )
    I loved it, but if possible, I want you check out the local good chocolate store in Belgium if I have a chance to go there.
    (Please take me there, if I can see you in Belgium!)

    Social pressure, Exactly! I have to shop candies to return to the women colleagues of my hubby’s because he was given “giri-choco” by them in his office. Why don’t we stop this extra “job” each other? This is the point I cannot get along with Japanese giri culture!

  4. Spok-spok Said,
    February 16th, 2009 at 6:19 pm edit

    Chocolate sampling is the best! Sometimes I miss Swedish chocolate…

  5. Contamination Said,
    February 17th, 2009 at 3:06 pm edit

    For valentines day I am happy with a block of ￥99 Meiji chocolate.

    Too much wasted money on Chocolates in Japan.

    Urgh!

  6. Ivy Said,
    February 17th, 2009 at 3:23 pm edit

    Hi Kirin! Sorry, haven’t commented in a long time. Work has kept me so busy. The chocos oishii soo! I LOVE CHOCOLATES! I prefer European chocolates, especially the Swiss, but there are some Japanese chocolates that are to die for too. My favorite is ROYCE’. It just melts in your mouth. <3<3

    Well, I hope you had a good Valentine’s Day with your husband. Mine was pretty okay. The first person who wished me Happy V Day is my best friend from Japan. Was quite sweet of him. My boyfriend is overseas right now so I had no romantic dinners this year. T___T I went to an izakaya to drink with a friend instead. And we tried this Japanese dessert called kuzukiri. Quite a relaxing Valentine’s day for me. :D

  7. Destiny Said,
    February 17th, 2009 at 4:43 pm edit

    Oh my goodness… the chocolate looks sooooo good!! When I was in Tokyo, there were many different types of chocolate that I’ve never seen before, which was really interesting :)

  8. kirin Said,
    February 18th, 2009 at 1:49 am edit

    @spok-spok,

    Sampling various kinds of chocolates of good quality is enough to me, because sometimes too much chocolate makes me feel sick. :roll:

    @contamination,

    Ahaha, that’s true. And I’m sick of the next trend of “White Day” comming the very next day from Valentine’s Day in Japan, which turnover looks even similar to the change from Christmas to New Year. Too commercialized!

    @Ivy,

    I’m glad to have you back. I know you’re pretty busy. :wink:
    I am also busy and not able to read your blog often. I was gonna tell you that I thank you for your card that you gave me end of the year, whereas, mine was very limited words, ‘cos there was less space and I was not sure what to write on. My attention was too much paid to kawaii shape of the card. :lol:

    BTW, you know ROYCE, a famous chocolate brand from Hokkaido? I think the way you spent your Valentine’s Day is OK. :smile:

    @Destiny,

    Really? Yeah, maybe. As long as we are in Tokyo, we are given great chances to reach out things from all over the world so easily. Shops and restaurants, too. There are too many options to choose from, and as it turns out, I’m tired of trying out everything. :lol:

  9. Sakura Said,
    February 21st, 2009 at 11:19 pm edit

    Woww! :grin: That makes me want to go to Japan even more!

    I’m so stupid – i let my imagination run wild! ><
    I’m an anime and manga addict and i happened to come across quite a few animes that have an episode showing Valentines day. It looks sooo sweet!
    It’s not fair – Valentines day isn’t that big a deal in England and no boy is ever confident enough to confess their feelings to any girl.
    I wish i could go to Japan and live there for a while and attend school there so that i can experiance all these things like Valentines Day and White Day while i’m still in the prime time of my youth. :(

  10. kirin Said,
    February 24th, 2009 at 10:23 am edit

    @Sakura,

    Valentine’s Day in Japan is a big chance for girls to confess love to boys. Are you excited about that? :wink:
    I miss your age, the prime time of youth. :oops:

     Add A Comment

trackback Trackback URI | rsscomment Comments RSS


 Powered by Max Banner Ads