Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

St. Valentine's day. A day that the aroma of cacao turns on our heart. A day that had been always special for us. Bright and luxurious, specially dressed chocolates grant this weekend before spring, an important meaning. The fulfilled time that the theobroma brings. The story begins from the Valentine Eve.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Japan does indeed celebrate Valentine's Day. Unlike in the U.S. however, the gentler sex gets kind of shafted February 14th in that guys aren't obligated to do anything... say what? Traditionally, it's a day where girls "confess" their love by giving gifts, which in turn are reciprocated on March 14th (White Day). The gift of choice is chocolate, so much so that (うわさで) the week before Valentine's Day accounts for more than 10% of annual chocolate sales in Japan. Homemade chocolates are especially thoughtful... even more so when they turn out well. On the plus side, I've heard that when guys reciprocate, it's expected that they will buy more expensive gifts than what they were given. (Seriously, I'm not making this up!)

It's worth mentioning that not all chocolates are equal... While it may be tempting to think that you're Mr. Popular after getting loads of chocolates, chances are that you have been 義理チョコ'd. 義理チョコ (giri choko) aka "obligatory chocolate" is the chocolate that women give to their friends, bosses, or other male acquantainces to whom they might feel somehow indebted or want to be nice. When it comes to admitting your feelings, 本命チョコ (true love chocolate) is the real deal. I've been 義理チョコ'd myself... it's a sad business, but in the end at least you come out with some sweets, right?

If you plan on taking the plunge and getting some chocolate for that special someone, I highly recommend Vosges' Black Pearl Bar. It's dark chocolate with traces of wasabi, ginger, and black sesame seeds- making it crazy delicious and giving it a distinctively Japanese taste. I suppose it sounds kind of off-putting at first, but it actually tastes amazing- not spicy in the traditional sense, but the kind of piquant that makes all other chocolate seem plain and mediocre in comparison. I was hoping to find something similar here, but besides 抹茶 and イチゴ chocolate, milk chocolate seems to be the チョコ of choice. 残念 (*´ο`*)=3

The stories behind Valentine's Day and White Day are pretty interesting commercialism success stories. Check it out here.

In other not as delicious-sounding news, I finally decided on a project for the last quarter of IUC: the development of child health-related public health laws/policies. [crickets chirping] Yeah I'm still figuring things out. I think I will probably end up tweaking what I focus on as I do more research. I half thought of just copping out and doing something like the history of vending machines in Japan. Perhaps not.