Japanese women give chocolate, can be shop bought or handmade, to males as an expression of love, courtesy or social obligation. So there is no confusion to whether the gift is a gift of love or courtesy there are two types of chocolate given, honmei choco or giri choco. Honmei choco literally translates to "true feeling chocolate" and so given to boyfriends, husbands or prospective boyfriends. This chocolate tends to be of high quality and some women go as far as to make it themselves! Giri choco, meaning obligation chocolate, is given to males that the lady has no romantic interest in; just friendship and gratitude. Recipients are normally colleagues, bosses and family members. Giri is an etiquette that the Japanese follow when dealing with other people. It is a mutual obligation; if someone does you a favour, then you feel obligated to do something for that person. In recent years another category has become popular, tomo choco, translated to friend chocolate given to female friends.
But don't worry, ladies aren't left out as exactly a month later it's time for the men to step up to the plate as on the 14th of March White Day is celebrated. Males who were recipients of chocolates are expected to return the favour and give gifts back to the women. Popular gifts include cookies, marshmallows, white chocolate, white lingerie and jewellery. There is a cited rule 'sanbai gaeshi' which means triple the return where the return gift should cost two or three times more than the valentine's gift!
