Valentine's day – chocolate is in the air

Hello Springers!!

February is passing and you’re starting to feel like “love is the air”! This is due to the commemorative date Valentine's Day. Date created to honor Saint Valentine, a very courageous bishop of Rome who fought for the right to marriage in the 3rd century.

Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th in much of the Western world and every year it also becomes more popular in the East.

Here, in our land of the rising sun, the date is well established, but around here “chocolate is in the air”!

In Japan, more than passion, it is chocolate that drives this date.

In the month of February, more than in any other month of the year, countless types of chocolates fill the market shelves as the delicacy is the main gift of this celebration.

In addition to romance, Valentine's Day in Japan has become a day where friendship and respect are shown to those we admire; Because of this we have several categories:

• Tomo choco: Derived from the word tomodachi, which means friend. It's that chocolate you give to your friends to show your friendship.
• Guiri cuttlefish. This is the chocolate you usually hand out to bosses and co-workers to show your gratitude. Also considered as “obligation chocolate”, the one you give to not “get boring” lol.
• Hon Mei choco. Chocolate with true feeling. Usually handmade and you give it to the person you are in love with.
• Guaku cuttlefish. The inverted chocolate. The one where the boys deliver to the girls. Yes, inverted because the normal thing is for girls to take action and go around distributing chocolate (girl power hehe).

In addition to these, the market has been betting on the growing number of “jibun choco”. The chocolate you gift yourself.

This category may have arisen in the lost hope of receiving a chocolate on this date, but it is also due to the immense number of exclusive chocolates that only appear during this season.

The huge network of Takashimaya departments, for example, hosts the “amour du chocolat” every year, an event where the most prestigious brands in the world of chocolate come together.

Every year the network tries to bring together increasingly exclusive brands and even the chocolatiers themselves (A professional who delves into the history, manufacturing and creation of recipes based on chocolate). You can find many of them producing the chocolate on the spot, autographing the chocolates and taking photos with the public, a true dairy hall of fame.

But what about you, have you ever received or given any chocolate on Valentine's Day? Have you noticed the incredible variety of chocolates at this time of year? Enjoy it because many of you will only see it until the 14/2.

How about you indulge yourself and treat yourself to a jibun choku?? After all, you deserve it!

Spring your life!

By Teacher Paty Midori.