chocs away as japan cashes in on valentines day
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

By stocking up on 'obligation chocolates' for men

Chocs away as Japan cashes in on Valentine's Day

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Chocs away as Japan cashes in on Valentine's Day

Women in Japan mark Valentine's Day by buying so-called 'obligation chocolate'
Tokyo - Arab Today

A billion-dollar Valentine's Day bounty is on the cards for Japan's retailers as women celebrate the festival of romance by stocking up on 'obligation chocolates' for men.

February 14 is a huge money-spinner for the country’s confectioners, with women traditionally expected to fork out for chocolates and gift them to boyfriends, husbands, colleagues and bosses.

This year's Valentine's Day haul is estimated at 138.5 billion yen ($1.22 billion), up three percent from 2016, according to Kinenbi Culture Laboratory, an organisation that researches Japanese holidays and other annual events.

Part of the growth, according to the organisation, is due to Valentine's Day falling on a weekday for the first time in three years, meaning more women will buy "giri choco" -- or obligation chocolates -- for the men they work with or for.

On Monday, 27-year-old Maika Suzuki visited a floor dedicated to Valentine's Day at the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi area to buy more than 30 boxes of chocolates for her male co-workers.

Such chocolates "are for expressing gratitude to men," she explained as she surveyed products on offer from 110 manufacturers.

"Japanese men are happy to get chocolates" as there is a culture in Japan that women give them to men, she said.

"We can also boost their pride" by giving them chocolates on Valentine's Day, she added.

Although Japan is one of the world's most efficient and high-tech societies, marketeers have exploited the country’s rigid gender roles and social pressures to conform.

Valentine's Day first appeared in Japan in the late 1950s when a firm called Mary Chocolate advertised February 14 as "the only day of the year a woman professes her love through presenting chocolate" -- establishing it as Japan's currency of romance.

But confectionery maker Ezaki Glico said in its 2016 report that only 8.7 percent of 312 female respondents gave chocolates to the men they love.

In a sign of equality, however, the country next month celebrates White Day, a Japanese event confectioners cooked up in the 1980s to keep the cash tills ringing that sees men buy a white gift such as vanilla cookies, marshmallows and handkerchiefs for the women in their lives.

Marie Kondo, 24, bought nearly 30 boxes of chocolates for the men in her office, forking out a total of  10,000 yen.

"But I'm going to spend more for myself," she said, adding that she plans to buy chocolates from Sadaharu Aoki, a high-end Japanese chocolatier.

"To me, Valentine's Day is not a day to confess love."

Source: AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

chocs away as japan cashes in on valentines day chocs away as japan cashes in on valentines day



GMT 09:46 2017 Saturday ,11 November

Four dead as Yemen troops clash with Al-Qaeda

GMT 14:47 2013 Tuesday ,26 March

Armed Islamists vow to continue fight in Mali

GMT 13:11 2016 Wednesday ,14 December

Sochaux topple Marseille in French League Cup

GMT 07:12 2017 Thursday ,24 August

Fugitive Venezuelan prosecutor says life in danger

GMT 06:47 2017 Wednesday ,04 January

Trump picks Robert Lighthizer as trade Representative

GMT 01:47 2012 Tuesday ,03 January

Kim Kardashian New Hairstyle

GMT 13:31 2012 Wednesday ,28 November

AHG, Emaar in talks on investments

GMT 11:54 2013 Saturday ,28 September

Former UW student accused of threatening school

GMT 05:43 2017 Tuesday ,21 February

CEFC China Energy wins 4% stake in UAE oil project

GMT 09:23 2013 Saturday ,28 September

Taliban victim Malala pleads at UN

GMT 07:32 2016 Thursday ,15 September

The many faces of the hajj pilgrimage

GMT 04:59 2017 Saturday ,11 March

FM receives IFAD's Regional Director

GMT 08:46 2017 Sunday ,15 October

Egypt's Amer picked best governor in region

GMT 20:43 2016 Wednesday ,11 May

Libya's Sarraj arrives in Cairo

GMT 05:19 2017 Saturday ,18 February

8 Killed in Knife attack in China's Xinjiang Region

GMT 07:48 2011 Wednesday ,22 June

Designer Galliano claims drink, drug addiction

GMT 06:10 2011 Wednesday ,23 November

Six great dates that won\'t break the bank

GMT 05:23 2011 Friday ,18 November

9 Things men hesitate to tell women

GMT 18:43 2012 Thursday ,01 March

US women gets life

GMT 12:38 2016 Monday ,01 August

South Korean women on tee

GMT 14:36 2012 Wednesday ,25 January

U.S. workers under pressure to improve skills
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday