After a year in which Feb. 14 fell on a Sunday ¡ª and possibly two years of ÔÚÕ¬ÇÚ„Õ (zaitaku kinmu, working from home) due to the pandemic ¡ª women across Japan must be dreading the return of ¥Ð¥ì¥ó¥¿¥¤¥ó¥Ç©` (barentain d¨¥, Valentine¡¯s Day) at the office.
Why, might you ask, has a collective sigh of relief turned into, well, just a plain old chorus of sighs? It all comes down to the practice of giving out ÁxÀí¥Á¥ç¥³ (giri choko, obligatory chocolates).
As anyone who has lived in Japan might know, the tradition here is that Valentine¡¯s Day is a one-way holiday on which women give ±¾Ãü¥Á¥ç¥³ (honmei choko, lit., ¡°first choice¡± chocolate), to men they fancy. Over time, this has also resulted in the tradition of women bringing chocolates to the office and, since they can¡¯t single one lucky guy out in front of everyone, giving chocolates to everyone: ÁxÀí¥Á¥ç¥³.
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