I originally posted on City-Cost on Mar 15, 2020. This version has been edited to explain what White Day is.
Despite recent crises, there are still things that go on as usual. One such thing is White Day. I got Valentine's chocolate from my girlfriend and I thought it was a good idea to observe the cultural idea of giving back on White Day.
If you're not familiar with White Day, it's the day exactly one month after Valentine's Day. Here in Japan, Valentine's Day is the time when women give chocolates to their friends, love interests, or colleagues. White Day is when those recipients give back to those who gave out chocolate, and this year, my girlfriend gave me a fairly expensive set of chocolates. I had some work to do.
While I have a lot of experience eating sweets, I have no experience with making any sweets. I tried to shape some white chocolate in the shape of a popular character called Rilakkuma, but I made a very fundamental mistake: I put the chocolate directly into the pot. My ignorant self was really confused at why that happened, and what was supposed to be cute, relaxing bears turned out into miniature zombies.
So I kind of panicked. I didn't have other opportunities to try again in secret as we spend a lot of time together, so I went out to try to find something within twenty four hours. I ended up buying a tin of stroopwaffels. I figured anything in an elegant-looking tin would fly.
But I still didn't think it would be enough. From what I know of White Day reciprocation, what is given back is supposed to be at least three times more in either value or effort, and my girlfriend had given me gourmet chocolates from a French chef. This tiny thing wouldn't cut it.
Time was running out for me, and there morning of White Day saw me trying to find something in a department store in a very residential area. The best I could get was a box of chocolate sandwiches from Cozy Corner. Cozy Corner is a chain sweet shop, and ideally not the place you'd want to get a present for a special someone. It's alright for friends and acquaintances, but I believe the people that take White Day seriously would take a box from here as dismissive, at best. And I wasn't sure how seriously my girlfriend takes White Day.
It turns out that she doesn't take the day as seriously as I thought. I presented these to my girlfriend, who apparently forgot it was White Day. She was happy enough that I tried and she was greatly amused at my carcinogen-laden chocolate bear. Looking back, I guess as an expat in Japan I already did put in three times the effort, but I'm not sure if that's a valid statement.
Thanks for reading!
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