In Japan, the concept of giri-choco reflects social obligations and the importance of maintaining relationships. Do you think this is something we should adopt in Canada? Why? (Did you like exchanging cards in elementary school?)

In Japan, on Valentine’s Day, women are expected to gift chocolates to their bosses, colleagues, classmates, and acquaintances as a sign of appreciation and politeness. This reflects the social obligation women feel towards men. Japan has a male dominated culture which is quite prevalent in the workplace. On February 14^th, women show their gratitude to the men in their lives by gifting them chocolates and cards. Recently, Japanese women have been expressing their unease with the obligation of giri-choco, sharing they feel pressured to spend a lot of money to avoid offending their male colleagues and bosses. This appears to be a sexist tradition however, in the late 1970’s Japan begun a new tradition called “White Day” where the men would return the thought. Japan has been known to have outdated beliefs on sex and gender that are slowly progressing. Today, women are gifting giri-choco less and men are gifting chocolates more on Valentine’s Day as opposed to White Day. I think that Canada should not adopt giri-choco as a tradition as it can cause stress for women and miscommunication from the implications Valentine’s chocolate currently has. In Canada, an equivalent to giri-choco is exchanging cards in elementary school. I enjoyed doing this because it was not an obligation to my male classmates and instead an exchange of candies with all my friends. Many people continue to give chocolates to friends and classmates on Valentine’s Day. This act is a sign of generosity and friendship, giri-choco is an unfair obligation women face in the workplace. Overall I am not a fan of the concept of giri-choco and I am glad Japan is making efforts towards a fair society free of gender bias.