Valentines Day 2008

Valentines Day seems to be becoming more and more popular if the number of promotions and acres of shelf space given over to hawking chocolate is anything to go by.
My suspicions were proved correct after reading several local newspaper articles.
In 2005,the latest year that figures are available,the Valentine season saw 53 billion yen in chocolate sales.Reportedly sales have never gone down and show a year on year increase of about 10 per cent.
This runs counter to what some people I spoke to this week were saying.They told me that their company had sent out a fax requesting that people refrain from the so-called obligation or "giri-chocolate" gift giving practice.Apparently the ban is due to the perceived financial burden it places on female workers who feel pressured to purchase items for their male co-workers.
What I also noticed this year among the imported chocolate brands such as Godiva were an increasing number of local Japanese sweet makers trying to cash in.I observed some heart-shaped senbei rice crackers and red bean jam or dorayaki filled cakes available for purchase.There were also heart shaped manju or bean heart shaped buns for sale.
Other Japanese firms were offering "wafu mochi chocolat",sticky rice balls covered in green tea powder in a variety of colours such as white and yellow to tempt the more tradtional taste buds of local residents.
Below is a small sample of the chocolate on sale for February 14th.Bring on White Day March 14th!