White-out

First off, congratulations to my 3rd year students who walked across the stage this morning and were released from their duties of junior high school. I couldn't be more proud.

In addition to graduation, today is also White Day. White day is the day that occurs one month after Valentines day. It is the day where Japan's (and Korea's!) gentlemen get to reciprocate all their love from Valentines day. If you remember, the ladies are the givers on Valentines Day, making the men the givers on White Day.
As in the given name for the holiday, items given are generally white. This has the slight undertone that wedding dresses have, signifying purity and whatnot.
I was actually kind of under the impression that you only receive White Day gifts from either your significant other or from those wishing they were your significant other. But apparently friends and social obligations such as those I laid upon the coworkers desks a month ago could also lead people into returning the favor. A month ago I gave all of the teachers at my school, man and woman alike some American candy.
Today I actually was returned white days gifts much to my surprise. Definitely not expecting it. Also I was not exactly sure of the protocol, but seeing as they are coworkers and the majority of them married and with kids, I think it might have been most polite to accept them. I mention protocol here since at least on Valentines day, some gentlemen will refuse intimate chocolate from persons they are uninterested. An example would be if a woman showed up at a single guys apartment to gift him with chocolate being an intimate situation. And yes, it happens. The gentlemen , not wanting to lead said person on, will refuse the chocolate, though sometimes the women are exceptionally persistent  Additionally they don't want to obligate themselves for White Day, as once given chocolates, most men will feel some sort of social obligation to return the favor.
I have not experienced a situation where a woman would refuse chocolates from a man in an intimate situation, because come on...were women (I mean refuse chocolate? You must be joking). But jokes aside, I get the feeling that not so many favors are returned on White Day. Mostly because men here are not so romantic and probably a little shy. Women on the other hand are pretty aggressive romantics and will go after men without so much hesitation. Adding to the fact, women will often hand make their chocolate on valentines day, but on white day, men mostly buy their products.
Last year, I had a rather unique White Day and was taken on a small fancy cruise liner for desserts and tea with music and dancing as we sailed out to Awajima on an afternoon trip. There was actually a wedding happening on the upper deck. The event sailed out from Kobe and was probably a two hour affair. The thought process behind it was that chocolates were cheap and to show the proper amount of affection, we went for an outing on a boat. In addition, the gift was supposed to be white as was the boat.
So the gift on these days does not necessarily have to be chocolate, it can be material consisting of jewelry, plushes, dinner, clothing, or pretty much anything, most often being white or having some sort of white accessorized accomplice.

Happy Valentines Day xoxo

A day of Romance and Chocolate. What more could you ask for?

Only in Japan girls do all the work. That's right. Valentines Day is more of a mans holiday in Japan. There are no flowers with poems or gift wrapped boxes or breakfasts in bed for the ladies here. In Japan the women often hand make chocolates of various assortments and intricate designs or will bake something for a man or men who are their friends or secret crushes.
This day is elaborate in terms of Japan, where you will see a lot of red and pink in the stores and they start selling incredible baking supplies: heart cookie tins, and pick silicon cake molds, decorative cake liners, icing syringes, and most interestingly, these intricate decorative truffle molds. These molds might be in the shapes of cats or dogs and they might have swirls or hearts or a number of ornamentations, where if done just right with different colors of chocolate, they will look like little masterpieces. You can find these at the local dollar store or at nicer stores like Muji or Loft, which will sell ones that have a bit more quality to their design.

You might think that women get the short end of this stick, but our day will come. Don't you worry. That day is White Day and it is a month after Valentines Day, on March 14th.

Pics to come later when I take mine out of the moulds!

And here they are!
The first one is Strawberry Lemonade White Chocolate

And the second one is Orange Milk Chocolate

It is also my little Bro's Birthday on Valentines day. So I had my whole class sing to him!

Happy Birthday Little Bro!