The practice of professing love during Valentine's Day came a long way since the early 1900's and it has evolved through time and aggressive marketing strategy where not only it has gotten men and women in the western world scurrying to make necessary bookings and buying flowers and gifts for their partners, Asia too was struck by the cupid's arrow.

However, not all Asian countries have adopted the same culture to have lovers showering gifts to each other.

In Japan, the craze for Valentine's Day was spurred on by heavy marketing tactics by chocolate companies who saw an opportunity in the idea of showering gifts and Japanese women are hooked.

And now, it has become a tradition in Japan that for Valentine's only women who would be the one doing all the impressing.

Being a man in Japan on that day doesn't sound too bad and you will literally be pampered by not only from girlfriends, but by colleagues and friends too.

But not everyone will be getting the same type of chocolates because, since it's given to boyfriends, friends and colleagues, chocolates are packaged according to priority.

The first one called Honmei-choko (Proposed winner – chocolate) is given to the guy whom the girl has feelings for. This type of chocolate is usually more exclusive, premium and packaged attractively.

The second one – Tomo-choko (friends-chocolate) is pretty casual and given to close friends.

The last one would be Giri-choko (obligation-chocolate) and this type is usually the cheapest of the lot and given to colleagues.

Japanese men often found it embarrassing if they did not receive any chocolates on that day and Giri-choko would often save them from it.

But before you think that this sounds totally unfair as to why aren't men doing the same, Valentine's Day is actually the first part. Thanks to another marketing strategy, big chocolate companies have thought of and sparked another tradition where men return the favour.

Held exactly a month after Valentine's Day on 13 March, men give chocolates to their girlfriends, female colleagues and friends that had been termed as White Day.

Marketing strategies and old-aged traditions go hand-and-in-hand in this modern day context where traditions have been changed just to keep the sales high or conversely, companies depending on tradition to ensure that their sales remain high.

For companies like Japan where marketing is done aggressively, it is interesting to note how Western celebrations like Valentine's Day have permeated through to Asian shores and have been given a flavour local to that nation.

Please click on the link to view the Valentine's Day Ezine! www.asiacuisine.com.sg/index.php?id=124

This article was first published in www.Asiacuisine.com  brought to you by Cuisine & Wine Asia – the internationally recognised F&B magazine for F&B professionals.