How Valentine's works in Japan
Chocolate is the gift, and the kind of chocolate says what you mean. Honmei choco is for the person you love, often handmade or chosen with care. Giri choco, obligation chocolate, was long handed out to male colleagues and bosses, though many workplaces have quietly dropped the custom. Tomo choco is swapped between friends, and jibun choco, chocolate for yourself, has become one of the main reasons people buy the expensive boxes.
It is not a public holiday, and flowers and cards matter much less than in many other countries. Couples do go out for dinner, but the bigger event is the shopping in the weeks before. More men now give chocolate too, which people call gyaku choco, reverse chocolate, and if you are visiting, any thoughtful box of sweets will be welcome.
White Day on March 14
White Day is the reply, a custom that grew up in Japan. A month after Valentine's, people who received chocolate give something back, traditionally men to women. The classic answers are cookies, marshmallows, candy, white chocolate or a small present. A well-known saying asks for a return worth three times the original (sanbai-gaeshi), though it is half a joke.
In the first two weeks of March, department stores and sweet shops switch their counters to White Day, with gift boxes wrapped in white and pastel colours. It is a calmer season than February, without the big fairs, and it comes just as the plum blossoms fade and the city starts waiting for the cherry trees.
- If you received giri or tomo choco, a small box of biscuits or sweets is plenty. Nobody really expects three times the price.
The chocolate fairs: Salon du Chocolat and the department stores
From around mid-January, Tokyo's department stores turn their event halls into Valentine's markets. The biggest is Salon du Chocolat, the chocolate show that started in Paris, which in recent years has filled the event floor in the main building of Isetan Shinjuku, in several stages running into February, with well over a hundred brands from Japan and abroad. Takashimaya holds its own fair, Amour du Chocolat, at its Nihonbashi and Shinjuku stores and online, and most other big department stores set up a Valentine's floor or counters in their basement food halls (depachika).
The mood is closer to a convention than a shop: chocolatiers who come in for the fair, tasting and eat-in counters, boxes made only for the event, and queues when the doors open. The first days and weekends are the busiest and the best-known limited items sell out early, while weekday afternoons later in the run are calmer with most of the range still there. Prices start at a few hundred yen for a single piece, so you can taste a lot without buying a luxury box.
- Check the store's page before you go. On opening days some fairs use numbered tickets or set entry rules.
- Fresh truffles and ganache keep only a few days. If you are flying home, choose boxed bars or baked items.
- Bring a tote bag. Fairs take cards, and it is easy to leave with more than you planned.
Date ideas for February in Tokyo
February is cold but usually dry and sunny, which makes for good evening walks. Several winter illuminations keep going into February, some until Valentine's Day or later, so you can walk under the lights with far smaller crowds than in December. Winter is also the clearest season for city views, and on a good day Mount Fuji appears on the horizon before sunset: the free observation decks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building work, and so do Shibuya Sky and Tokyo Skytree.
By day, the first plum blossoms open at places such as Yushima Tenjin, Hanegi Park and Koishikawa Korakuen, with far lighter crowds than the cherry season. Setsubun at the start of the month brings bean throwing at temples and shrines, and in recent winters Tokyo Midtown has set up an outdoor ice rink on its lawn. For dinner on February 14, book ahead: many restaurants serve only a set course that night, though the rush is smaller than on Christmas Eve, Japan's main couples' night.
- Restaurants with a view fill up for February 14. Reserve a couple of weeks ahead.
- Sunset slots at Shibuya Sky sell out first. Book online as soon as your date is fixed.
