{"id":5468,"date":"2023-01-22T12:03:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-22T03:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/valentines-day-in-kobe\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:33:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:33:52","slug":"valentines-day-in-kobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/valentines-day-in-kobe\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentine\u2019s Day in Kobe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valentine\u2019s Day is an essential holiday throughout Japan, but it\u2019s extra significant in Kobe. Here, a chocolate shop advertised Valentine\u2019s Day chocolates for the first time in Japan back in 1932. The advertisement ran in an English-language newspaper and targeted foreign residents. It took another four or so decades for the holiday to become popular among Japanese nationals, but it\u2019s now a major event.<\/p>\n

How Does Japan Celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The customs for Valentine\u2019s Day in Japan are slightly different than what you might be used to. Women typically give chocolate as a present to their love interest and to close male friends, family members, co-workers, and sometimes even their bosses.<\/p>\n

In Japan, there are multiple types of chocolate, each of which has a different meaning. Understanding the differences is important for figuring out what to purchase for someone and determining the message behind any gifts you receive.<\/p>\n

There are four important types of Valentine\u2019s Day chocolate.<\/p>\n

1. Honmei Choco<\/h3>\n

Romantic chocolate is called honmei choco, which means \u201ctrue feeling chocolate.\u201d For chocolate to meet honmei choco criteria, it must be either expensive or homemade. Since making chocolate at home is laborious, many purchase mixes, shells, molds, and decoration kits. The most elaborate honmei choco features a pearl sugar or cocoa nib finish.<\/p>\n

2. Giri Choco<\/h3>\n

At the opposite end of the spectrum is giri choco: \u201cobligation chocolate.\u201d Although it sounds less than appetizing, it reflects the importance of gift-giving in Japanese culture. Recipients can distinguish giri choco from honmei choco by price, exclusivity, and even amount \u2014 it\u2019s common for co-workers to receive just one piece from a larger box.<\/p>\n

3. Tomo Choco<\/h3>\n

To give chocolate when it\u2019s neither an obligation nor for romantic reasons, there\u2019s tomo choco, meaning \u201cfriendship chocolate.\u201d Both men and women can give this chocolate \u2014 it\u2019s called yuri choco when exchanged between women and homo choco when exchanged between men.<\/p>\n

4. Gyaku Choco<\/h3>\n

The newest type of Valentine\u2019s chocolate is gyaku choco, which means \u201creverse chocolate.\u201d This is the chocolate men give women on Valentine\u2019s Day. Whether that\u2019s clever marketing or promoting equality is up for debate.<\/p>\n

Where to Find This Fancy Chocolate<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You can find fancy chocolate to give to your special someone at several places.<\/p>\n

L\u2019avenue<\/h3>\n

L\u2019avenue and its chocolatier Shigeo Hirai are famous worldwide. Arrive early \u2014 you may be waiting in line for a long time.<\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> Utopia-Tor 1F 3-7-3, Yamamoto-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0003
\nOpen:<\/strong> Monday to Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

JHOICE<\/h3>\n

JHOICE brings customers chocolates made with the finest ingredients, including top-quality cacao. This is perfect for some extra-special honmei choco.<\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> Store 9, 5-21 Hanakumacho, Chuo Ward, Kobe, 650-0013
\nOpen:<\/strong> Monday to Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

Kobe Hankyu<\/h3>\n

Kobe Hankyu is the big department store in front of Sannomiya station. You\u2019ll find several options for fancy chocolate here, such as Morozoff (the brand that introduced Valentine\u2019s Day chocolates to Japan), Mon Loire Chocolate House, and Saison de Setsuko.<\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> 8-1-8, Onoedori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 651-8511
\nOpen:<\/strong> Monday to Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

This list of places will also come in handy for the men a month after Valentine\u2019s Day. March 14th is White Day in Japan<\/a> when men are expected to gift their spouses chocolate.<\/p>\n

Where to Go for a Date<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Usually, Japanese couples celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day by going out for dinner together. Around the 14th, most caf\u00e9s and restaurants have special menus for couples. This means you can have a romantic meal virtually anywhere. However, Kitano Ward is great if you want something incredibly chic. As well as Japanese food, you\u2019ll find European-style restaurants serving French, Italian, and Spanish cuisine. Plus, it\u2019s an ideal area to stroll after dinner.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d prefer a more relaxed atmosphere or would like to do something a little out of the ordinary, consider Nankin-machi<\/a> (Chinatown). There are many excellent restaurants and stores to explore with your significant other.<\/p>\n

Another option is to take your partner to the harbor area and enjoy a meal near the sky. Inside the Kobe Port <\/a>Tower is\u00a0a slowly rotating restaurant with a gorgeous view over the rooftops. Since it takes 20 minutes to complete one rotation, you don\u2019t have to worry about feeling nauseous. You should make a reservation ahead of time, as the restaurant is quite a popular spot for Valentine\u2019s Day and seating is limited.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lucky enough to spend Valentine\u2019s Day in Kobe \u2014 the city where the holiday began in Japan \u2014 make it one to remember.<\/p>\n

By Bernd from Yokohama, Japan (One missing, oops.) [CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valentine\u2019s Day is an essential holiday throughout Japan, but it\u2019s extra significant in Kobe. Here, a chocolat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,165,85],"tags":[89,72,74,209],"class_list":["post-5468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-kobe","category-miscellaneous","tag-february","tag-hyogo-prefecture","tag-kobe-city","tag-valentines-day"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49858,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468\/revisions\/49858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}