A long-standing Valentine’s tradition of chocolate-giving in the Japanese workplace is on its last legs. And it’s not just because of the alarming increase in the price of cocoa.
The custom of giri-choco, loosely meaning "obligatory chocolate,” was once commonplace in offices around the country. While Valentine’s Day in the West might traditionally be associated with men giving flowers to the women in their lives, in Japan the day has typically involved women giving gifts of chocolate to men — including to male co-workers and bosses. While "obligatory” might be overstating the necessity of giving in the office, it was nonetheless one of those workplace traditions that many followed.
As a Bloomberg story from a little over a decade ago notes, the habit was once so entrenched it could boost the stocks of chocolate-makers. But like many things in Japanese workplaces, changing norms mean the tradition is dying out. Just 13% of those who plan to give chocolates for Valentine’s this year said they’d be for coworkers, according to a survey from Nippon Life Insurance. Another survey found those who’d treated colleagues collapsed to just 5% in 2023, from 14% in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the expense and hassle involved.
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