Like Christmas, Valentine’s Day is an increasingly popular event in Japan. But have you heard of White Day (ホワイトデー)? Celebrated on 14 March every year, it sees people given a gift on Valentine’s Day reciprocate the gesture to those they received the gift from. Chocolate and marshmallows, and more specifically white chocolate and marshmallows, has become the go-to present.
White Day was first celebrated in Japan in 1978, when Valentine’s Day really started to take off. Originally, the day was uniquely marketed as a ‘response’ to V-Day, and an opportunity for ‘boys’ to show their affection for ‘girls’. This isn’t so much the case today and the event has since become popular in other parts of Asia, too.
Image: QUO