Ladies, if you are in Korea and engaged to a Korean, your time has finally come to receive the long-awaited gift of Saint Valentine! It is then said that the gift must be three times larger of what women did on Valentine's Day, so hold on tight…
The White Day we celebrate the March 14, exactly one month from Valentine's Day, and on this occasion it is men who get busy with chocolate, sweets or other expensive gifts. The White day – 화이트데이 (hwaiteu gods) – it's not just celebrated in Korea; indeed, to understand its origins it is necessary to bring nearby Japan into consideration.
White day, in fact, was born in Japan in 1978, as a response to Valentine's Day. The confectionery company Ishimura Manseido, thanks to the intuition of executive Zengo Ishimura, decided to promote marshmallows as gifts for women in response to Valentine's Day chocolate. So they chose March 14, 1978 as Marshmallow Day, which was soon changed to the famous White Day. In fact, white still resembles the color of marshmallows and is closely linked to the concept of purity and innocence, themes so dear to Japan.
For this reason, while on February 14th girls give dark chocolate as gifts, on March 14th boys give white chocolate or other white sweets. At the moment, when it comes to gifts, we can indulge ourselves, because you can give soft toys, jewellery, underwear… all strictly in white or light colours. From Japan the festival has spread throughout Asia, even in our beloved Korea.
In short, chocolate has become a real tool of non-verbal communication, because if the boy accepts the love of the girl who gave him chocolate on Valentine's Day, he can reciprocate by simply giving a gift to the girl on March 14th. Without the need for many words!
And do you prefer a chocolatey declaration or a beautiful string of romantic words?
Tell us yours!
Fabiana
Photo credit: cover dephositephotos – urban_light