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<\/p>\nForeigners first brought chocolate to Japan when the country was still mostly closed off to the rest of the world, and it has traced a unique path since then. Chocolate\u2019s role in Valentine\u2019s Day, the day on which people confess their love to each other, has been important. In recent years, in addition to the custom of women giving chocolates to men they fancy, more people, especially women, seem to enjoy choosing or making their own chocolates and giving them to friends, including other women, and family members. As for the products themselves, the focus now is less on fancy-looking packaging and more on traceable bean-to-bar chocolates or healthy options rich in cocoa polyphenols. Valentine\u2019s Day is now synonymous with chocolate, and it\u2019s a great time to check out the wide range of chocolates from all over Japan and around the world.<\/p>\n
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March 1797<\/strong> 1918<\/strong> February 1936<\/strong> 1942<\/strong> February 1951<\/strong> 1962<\/strong> 1970s<\/strong> 1980s<\/strong> 2010s<\/strong> On average Japanese enjoy 1.2 kg of chocolate per year. That\u2019s quite a chunk, but not enough to rank within the top-twenty consuming nations. Come Valentine\u2019s Day, however, chocolates are everywhere! Interestingly it\u2019s the women who gift them to the men, and matters get even more complicate<\/span>d, here\u2019s a primer for Valentine\u2019s Day newbies in Japan.<\/p>\n Honmei choco<\/strong> Gyaku choco<\/strong> Giri choco<\/strong> Tomo choco<\/strong> My choco \/ Gohobi choco<\/strong> Fami choco<\/strong> Looking for chocolates to give on Valentine’s Day? Drop by Hakata Hankyu’s St. Valentine\u2019s Day Chocolate Expo<\/a>!<\/strong>
\nA courtesan working on Dejima Island in Nagasaki, Japan’s only contact point with the outside world, receives six pieces of chocolate from a Dutch man; this is the first mention of chocolate in Japanese history.<\/p>\n
\nAt a time when chocolate is still a luxury item that regular people can\u2019t afford, Morinaga & Co. begins selling the first domestically produced milk chocolate.<\/p>\n
\nTargeting foreign residents of Japan, Kobe-based chocolatier Morozoff runs the following ad in an English language newspaper: \u201cFor your Valentine, Make A Present of Morozoff\u2019s Fancy Box Chocolates.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nChocolate specialist Chocolate Shop opens in Hakata Ward in Fukuoka.<\/p>\n
\nHankyu Department Store in Osaka is the first in Japan to make an annual event out of selling Valentine chocolates.<\/p>\n
\nThe chocolate division of Tagawa City-based Matsuo Seika begins making and selling Tirol-Choco.<\/p>\n
\nValentine\u2019s Day gains popularity among young girls as the day to confess your love to the boy you like.<\/p>\n
\nWomen working in offices start buying chocolates for their male coworkers, leading to the birth of giri choco (obligation chocolate).<\/p>\n
\nThe chocolate market expands with the addition of high cacao chocolate and chocolate supplemented with lactobacillus.<\/p>\nValentine\u2019s Day Gifting – It\u2019s not like back home!<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\n\u201cTrue feeling chocolate.\u201d As the name implies, this is chocolate given to express your true feelings to someone.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOpposite chocolate.\u201d Chocolate that men give to women on Valentine’s Day, instead of the other way around, which is the custom in Japan. Usually an indicator of one\u2019s true feelings.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cObligation chocolate.\u201d Chocolate that women give to men with no romantic undertones. Usually given in hopes of reciprocation on White Day (March 14).<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFriend chocolate.\u201d Chocolates that friends, usually female, give each other.<\/p>\n
\nChocolate that you buy to treat yourself. If you are a chocoholic, there is no better time than Valentine\u2019s Day to sample the plethora of delicious products.<\/p>\n
\nChocolate you give to your family members.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 2\/1 (Fri.) ~ 2\/14 (Thu.)
\n\u2022 8F event hall: 10:00~20:00 (last day: ~18:00), 1F media stage: 10:00~20:00 (Sun. ~ Thu.), until 21:00 (Fri. & Sat.)
\n\u2022 Hakata Hankyu
\n\u2022 1-1 Hakataeki-chuogai, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka<\/a>
\n\u2022 092-461-1381<\/a>
\n\u2022 https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/event\/st-valentines-day-chocolate-expo-at-hakata-hankyu\/<\/a><\/p>\n