White Day

Valentine’s Day is not all chocolates and roses for men; you have to pay the piper. Exactly one month later, on March 14, men who received a “honmei-choco,” (‘chocolate of love’) or “giri-choco” (‘obligation chocolate’) on Valentine’s Day are expected to return the favor by like-wise giving gifts. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, jewelry, white chocolate, white lingerie, and marshmallows. Sometimes the term “sanbai gaeshi” (‘triple the return’) is used to describe the generally recited rule for men that the return gift should be two to three times the worth of Valentine’s gift. White Day started in 1978 with the National Confectionery Industry Association as a response (read: double-dip, cynical old me LOL) to Valentine’s Day, because men should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine’s Day. In the late 70s, a Fukuoka based confectionery company, Ishimuramanseido, marketed marshmallows to men on March 14, calling it Marshmallow Day. Shortly after, confectionery companies cottoning on to the opportunity began marketing white chocolate. These days the spectrum of gifts men give to women they received chocolate on Valentine’s Day has widened: jewelry or things with sentimental value or white clothing like lingerie, flowers, and…