Why Chocolate Is Getting Cancelled in Japan

aini
392.9K views • March 19, 2025

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How did Japan’s confectionery industry turn chocolate into a social obligation—and why is it now falling apart?

Timestamps
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:52 The bitter tradition of Giri Choco
- 6:56 These ties that bind
- 13:40 Conclusion

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Academic References
Minowa, Y., Khomenko, O. and Belk, R.W. (2010). Social Change and Gendered Gift-Giving Rituals: A Historical Analysis of Valentine’s Day in Japan. Journal of Macromarketing, [online] 31(1), pp.44–56. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146710375831.

Peyas, K. P. (2023). Influence of GIRI (Social Obligations) in Ancient and Contemporary Japan. ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371291924_Influence_of_GIRI_Social_Obligations_in_Ancient_and_Contemporary_Japan

Trias i Vallis, M. A. (1999). Wrapped gifts - Ritual presentations and socia lobligations in contemporary Japan (online) Available at: https://vestiges-journal.info/CSACMonog/Wrapped_gifts/Html/wrapped_gifts-Title.html

References
Adelstein, J. (2018). Why Godiva Japan Took Out A Full Page Ad Asking People Not To Buy Valentine’s Day Chocolate. Forbes. (online) Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adelsteinjake/2018/02/12/why-godiva-japan-took-out-a-full-page-ad-asking-people-not-to-buy-valentines-day-chocolate/.

‌McDonald, T. (2019). Valentine’s Day: Japan falling out of love with ‘obligation chocolates’. (online) Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47112489?t.

Machino, Y. (2023). 83% of women in Japan don’t want to give ‘obligatory’ chocolates on Valentine’s Day. The Mainichi. Available at: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230208/p2a/00m/0na/009000c?t

Nakamura, Y. (2023). Women gifting chocolates to men: How Japan’s Valentine’s Day culture has changed. SBS Food. Available at: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/women-gifting-chocolates-to-men-how-japans-valentines-day-culture-has-changed/xjkcc6ml5.

Valentine’s Day in Japan: A Unique Celebration. (2024). (online) K’s House Hostels. Available at: https://kshouse.jp/articles/en/valentines-day-in-japan-a-unique-celebration/?t

Visual sources (historical footage):
- Upscaled history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLKFbIo3b0
- British Pathé: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdWw3ALZh3U
- AI time machine history channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZn7baAPhmk
- TRNGL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQwsxo7vqwY&t=175s

Thanks for watching! I already gave you a chocolate for subscribing, so here's a strawberry for you to go along with it 🍓

Tags:
video essay, cultural commentary, social commentary, internet analysis, analysis video, japan, japanese culture, valentines day japan, giri choco, chocolate, japan gift giving, japanese traditions, social obligation, japanese workplace, japanese etiquette, white day japan, tomo choco, kazoku choco, jibun choco, japan marketing, japanese history, japan social norms, gender roles japan, japanese women, capitalism in japan, japan trends, east asia, east asian, The Japan Reporter, not even emily, aini

0:00 chocolates are cancelled in Japan of all
0:02 the things to cancel why chocolate well
0:05 it's not chocolates themselves that are
0:06 problematic in Japan it's more the
0:08 context they're being given in it all
0:10 started back in February 2018 when Kiva
0:13 a belgian-based chocolate company ran a
0:15 full page ad in Prime Time newspaper
0:17 nion Kai shim calling for Japanese
0:20 people to stop buying chocolate I know a
0:23 chocolate company ran a marketing
0:24 campaign to make people buy less
0:26 chocolate but of course there's a catch
0:28 here Kiva was campaigned to cancel a
0:30 specific type of chocolate called K
0:33 choco or obligation chocolates and could
0:35 div's campaign to stop it initiated
0:37 quite a fierce debate amongst the
0:39 Japanese public to understand why this
0:41 chocolate is getting cancelled we need
0:43 to cover two things one what even are
0:46 obligation chocolates and two why do
0:48 Japanese people celebrate Valentine's
0:50 Day with their
0:55 boss K choco or obligation chocolates
0:58 are a special type of chocolate that's
1:00 given out on Valentine's Day in Japan by
1:02 women to male bosses co-workers and
1:04 acquaintances Kitty chocolates are meant
1:06 to be a token of appreciation in a
1:08 professional context and a way to
1:10 acknowledge the assistance received by
1:12 co-workers or bosses throughout the year
1:14 showing appreciation through chocolate
1:16 is great but when only women are
1:18 expected to do it it starts to feel a
1:20 bit one-sided and let's not forget
1:22 you're giving this not just on any day
1:25 but Valentine's Day as you can see
1:27 Valentine's in Japan Works a bit
1:29 differently to unpack this difference
1:31 and understand why Koko is a thing we
1:33 first have to cover some history behind
1:35 Valentine's Day in Japan you see
1:38 Valentine's was first introduced to
1:39 Japan in 1936 by a chocolate company
1:42 called morof morof mainly targeted
1:44 foreigners and tried to use Valentine's
1:46 as a way to incentivize sales their
1:48 campaign didn't do well though and
1:50 subsequent attempts to reintroduce
1:51 Valentine's Day to Japan around the
1:53 1950s also didn't perform well it wasn't
1:56 until the 1970s when confectioners
1:58 strategically POS IED Valentine's Day as
2:01 a day for Japanese women to express
2:03 their feelings to Men by giving gifts
2:04 like chocolate that led to the
2:06 mainstream adoption of Valentine's Day
2:08 in society just like that the
2:10 expectation for women to give chocolate
2:12 on Valentine's Day took C confectionist
2:14 introduce not only the idea of romantic
2:17 gifts but also gifts given out of
2:19 obligation which are Al Kitty chocolates
2:22 what started as a marketing campaign
2:24 quickly became a social obligation and
2:26 this consumerist practice was able to
2:28 seamlessly blend in with Japanese
2:30 Society because of this cultural concept
2:33 kitty kitty as defined in Rita and
2:35 others work acts as an ethical force
2:37 that requires people to even when the
2:39 natural tendency might be to behave
2:41 otherwise participate in socially
2:43 required reciprocal activities coming
2:45 back to Valentine's you might not want
2:47 to give your co-workers chocolate but if
2:49 it was expected of you then you had to
2:52 especially since this was a gift of
2:54 appreciation to thank male co-workers
2:56 and bosses for their help throughout the
2:58 year you don't want to seem ungrateful
3:00 too the positioning of Valentine's as a
3:03 day for only women to give gifts was
3:05 also quite a novel approach because
3:07 traditionally gift giving in Japan was a
3:09 very male dominated act women exchanged
3:11 gifts with in-laws and family but it was
3:14 men that gave gifts to other men in
3:15 political settings which women were not
3:18 allowed to be a part of the introduction
3:20 of kitty chod then a gift meant for male
3:22 bosses and co-workers gave Japanese
3:24 women an opportunity to exercise this
3:26 power and giving gifts to deepen their
3:29 various relation ships which was not
3:30 readly observed at that time in this way
3:33 some Scholars portray Koko as a symbol
3:35 of empowerment for women but at the same
3:38 time the word gidy or obligation kind of
3:41 implies otherwise and hints at some of
3:43 the problematic issues behind this
3:45 practice for starters an obligatory gift
3:48 sounds quite paradoxical yes Japanese
3:50 women are able to use gifts as a way to
3:52 further their relationships with male
3:54 colleagues and bosses but it's also
3:56 expected of them to do so in order to
3:58 maintain them may not be the most
4:00 straightforward societal Norm but it is
4:03 fundamental to how relationships are
4:05 formed and sustained in Japanese society
4:07 and to truly understand its
4:09 long-standing significance we need to go
4:11 back in time the concept of kidi has
4:14 existed since ancient Japan with early
4:16 instances of it being documented During
4:18 the yayoi period where Farmers would
4:20 collaborate and help one another plan
4:22 and harvest crops Farmers that received
4:24 more help were eager to then repay the
4:26 favor forming the essential reciprocity
4:28 behind Kitty during the the murati
4:30 period kidi was encompassed through the
4:32 act of gift giving Which lives on
4:34 through the existence of kidi Cho and
4:36 many other practices it wasn't until the
4:38 feudal era though that the idea of GID
4:40 really cemented itself as a core
4:42 cultural norm in Japan and that's thanks
4:44 to the samurai who pushed values like
4:47 obligation reciprocity and loyalty GID
4:49 to Samurai was putting your life on the
4:51 line to repay the favor the king had
4:53 showed you and a failure to reciprocate
4:56 and show up would break trust and lead
4:58 to a loss of respect this interpretation
5:00 of Ki as loyalty and honor became more
5:03 refined during the adult period as it
5:05 came to represent civic responsibility
5:07 gidy became a rule that enforced
5:09 reciprocation amongst one another to
5:11 maintain social relationships and if I
5:14 may I think we should re enforce another
5:16 rule to maintain good relationships and
5:18 that is if you're putting on perfume or
5:20 cologne to not spray so much on yourself
5:22 Susan that I choke on your scent in the
5:24 work elevator and because we're all
5:26 about reciprocity and obligation today
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6:56 this video Kitty forms an essential part
6:58 of Japanese societ and interpersonal
7:00 relationships and now that we've traced
7:03 its roots and understood its
7:04 significance we can better examine the
7:06 practice of gifting KY choco and why
7:08 it's getting
7:12 cancelled kidy choco is not as prevalent
7:14 now but it was a big deal 30 years ago
7:17 and it's worth taking a look at that as
7:19 we work our way to the present in a 1991
7:22 survey conducted by morof 84% of women
7:25 gave out chocolate on Valentine's Day to
7:27 male co-workers and bosses compared to
7:29 the 28% of women who gave chocolate on
7:31 the day to their lover I'm not sure
7:33 whether every respondent in that survey
7:35 was in a relationship otherwise the
7:37 comparison between gifting chocolates to
7:39 lovers and co-workers would be quite
7:40 skewed but either way if we just focus
7:43 on the giddy choco stat 84% of women
7:46 giving chocolate to male co-workers or
7:49 buses is a lot and the dominance of this
7:51 practice attracted a fair share of
7:53 criticism many remark that Valentine's
7:56 Day in Japan was not romantic at all
7:58 instead the day arrival was a chore for
8:01 many women it was stressful because they
8:03 had to figure out who to give chocolates
8:05 to if you miss someone who expected a
8:07 gidy chocal then that could offend or
8:09 upset them gifting gidy Chocos was also
8:11 an expensive activity gidy Chocos
8:13 individually are meant to be more
8:15 affordable but it adds up when you're
8:17 buying 10 of them and to be safe you'd
8:20 always rather overg give to preserve
8:22 relationships than underg give and ruin
8:24 one so in many ways for women gifting KY
8:27 choco felt like a burden but before we
8:29 slam this practice I do want to show you
8:31 a different perspective which highlights
8:33 how gidy Chocos can be a very effective
8:35 way at conveying gratitude and thinks as
8:38 it's originally intended a woman in her
8:40 mid-30s says this Kira my boss is the
8:43 most kind his man is are gentle and he
8:46 always remembers you and helps me during
8:48 the year every time he goes on a trip he
8:50 returns with an omag gift and offers it
8:52 to the office I will give him a kidy
8:55 chocolate it is a good occasion to thank
8:57 him in this instance kidy choco is an
8:59 effective way to show thanks on the day
9:01 to someone who's taken care of you so it
9:03 would appear that kidy chocolate when
9:05 it's given with intention of genuinely
9:07 thinking someone and reciprocating their
9:09 Goodwill is a joy to give but when it
9:12 feels like it's an obligatory ritual
9:14 feeling unnecessary consumerism and
9:16 comes with consequences if you don't
9:18 participate in it then Kitty choco is
9:20 not a fun gifting practice it's simply a
9:23 burden oh I guess we could say this is
9:25 the difference between getting to give
9:27 chocolate and having to give chocolate
9:30 but like it or hate it this practice and
9:32 the expectation of kitty choco was set
9:34 and the biggest winner here were the
9:36 confectionist in 1996 estimated
9:39 chocolate sales in Japan were 49.6
9:42 billion yen chocolate sales on
9:44 Valentine's accounted for up to 70% of
9:46 chocolate storees annual sales in Japan
9:48 the expectation to gift gidy chocolate
9:51 was so pervasive that it was observed to
9:53 boost stocks of chocolate stores back
9:55 then but as the years went on Japanese
9:57 Society saw a shift in cultural
9:59 attitudes and gender Norms women
10:01 received less pressure to conform and
10:03 were also more willing to challenge
10:04 traditional gendered practices such as
10:07 gifting gidy choco in addition other
10:09 factors like Rising costs shifting
10:11 priorities of treating family friends
10:13 and oneself instead meant there was
10:15 growing descent among women with the
10:17 practice of giving kidy choco and that's
10:19 the inglea aimed for with a bold ad
10:22 campaign in 2018 to put a stop to gidy
10:24 Chocos this was a groundbreaking move at
10:26 the time as it directly challenged the
10:28 deeply Grand cultural norm of kitty the
10:31 ad States Valentine's Day is supposed to
10:33 be a day when you confess your true
10:35 feelings it's not a day when you're
10:37 supposed to go out of your way to keep
10:39 good relations at work gada's proposed
10:42 solution to end the practice of giddy
10:43 Chocos was to call upon Japan's business
10:45 Executives to enforce a ban for
10:48 individual women choosing not to
10:49 participate in this tradition could
10:51 result in unfavorable workplace
10:53 consequences however if company leaders
10:55 said the expectation that kitty choco is
10:57 unnecessary women would genuinely be
11:00 able to opt out without fear of
11:02 repercussions it's also worth pointing
11:04 out here that this act by a diver to ban
11:06 chocolates as a chocolate company isn't
11:08 as self-sacrificing as it may seem
11:11 because there are actually multiple
11:12 types of chocolates that are gifted on
11:14 Valentine's Day which traditionally the
11:16 two biggest types being KY choco that we
11:18 are very familiar with by now and honto
11:21 choco or true love chocolate the
11:23 chocolate you give to someone you
11:24 actually romantically like some easy
11:26 ways to tell the difference between the
11:28 two is through how expensive the
11:29 chocolate is how fancy it is and the
11:32 brand of chocolate and guess what gadiva
11:35 is not a gidy chocolate brand which is
11:37 why this is such a brilliant move
11:39 they're raising Awareness on the issue
11:41 addressing actual frustrations by women
11:43 that aren't able to really be expressed
11:45 and they're not losing any money from
11:47 doing this many women who felt trapped
11:49 by this tradition greatly appreciated
11:51 this sentiment like Tomo isi a female
11:54 professional who explains it gets
11:56 expensive to buy chocolates for
11:58 co-workers and you always have to worry
11:59 about mixed signals you have to think
12:01 about how much to spend they can't be
12:03 too cheap either or that could be
12:05 insulting she says if her boss orders
12:08 people not to give Kitty choco that
12:10 would relieve her of the yearly burden
12:12 regarding this campaign kadaka Japan's
12:14 President says we'd like to see people
12:16 enjoy Valentine's Day not as something
12:18 done out of a sense of obligation or
12:20 custom or ritual but as a day when
12:23 people can freely Express their feelings
12:25 and love you have to respect this move
12:28 regardless of motiv Kiva is addressing
12:30 valid concerns and may have accidentally
12:33 taken out half the competitors in the
12:34 chocolate industry with it kiva's ad was
12:37 already shaking things up then Co
12:39 happened and dealt the final blow people
12:41 weren't in the office anymore so forget
12:43 about not seeing your co-workers people
12:45 didn't even know who their co-workers
12:46 were even though we're past this phase
12:48 now with most of us going back into the
12:50 office the practice of gifting gidy
12:52 chocolate never really recovered in 2023
12:55 a survey showed 5% of respondents
12:58 planning to gift gidy CH as opposed to
13:00 14% in the year preco as gifting Kitty
13:03 chocolate declines other forms of
13:05 chocolate gifting on Valentine's Day
13:07 have risen such as Tomo choco chocolate
13:09 for friends koku choco chocolate for
13:11 family andun choco chocolate for
13:14 yourself we clearly see the shift in
13:16 attitude in this interview played on
13:18 Japanese TV
13:40 Valentine's gift giving in Japan is
13:42 becoming less about obligation and more
13:44 about personal connection decades ago
13:46 women gifting chocolate to men in the
13:48 workplace could be interpreted as a form
13:50 of empowerment now empowerment is
13:53 Breaking Free from that expectation and
13:55 trading oneself instead to an indulgent
13:58 fancy chocolate bar thank you so much
14:00 for watching I hope you enjoyed and now
14:02 you're obligated to subscribe to
14:04 reciprocate I'll keep making thoughtful
14:06 cultural commentary videos on East Asia
14:09 just like this one thank you as well to
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